Pokemon: Generation Trapped
by NITRO PSYCHO
Summary: When Brighton bought the new Pokemon game in early March, the last think he expected was being sucked into it, which somehow happens. When he get's there, however, he realizes it's not the same story. Will he be able to deal with the challenges ahead? R
1. Prologue

**W****hat up peoplezez**

**I'm deciding to go against my better judgment and start a second Pokémon story. Under normal circumstances, I would normally only start new stories in an archive if the previous one is done or is pretty much close to being done. However, I've decided to start it now so that I don't forget about it and not do it**

**I do not own Pokémon; I do own the characters and the story.**

**Enjoy**

Zoroark used Focus Blast!

It's not very effective!

"Should've seen that coming" the boy playing the game muttered under his breath.

Volcanora used Hyper Beam!

"Crap" the boy grunted the noise signifying low health began. "Gotta make this next shot count."

Zoroark used Night Daze! Critical Hit!

"Yes" the boy exclaimed once the bug was knocked close to the fainting point.

"This is it" the boy whispered.

Zoroark used Flamethrower!

Volcanora fainted!

The boy stared at his game for a long time. He had done it. After spending two months leveling his Pokémon up, he defeated Champion Alder and the Elite Four for the first time. He know sat back and watched his character enter the hall of fame and enter his team in.

Hydreigon

Met at Victory Road

Lv. 94

Ferrothorn

Met at Chargestone Cave

Lv. 93

Golurk

Met at Dragonspiral Tower

Lv. 92

Galvantula

Met at Chargestone Cave

Lv. 94

Samurott

Met at Nuvema Town

Lv. 95

Zoroark

Met at Castelia City

Lv. 95

The boy sighed and leaned back on the lawn chair. He was a sixteen year old kid with brown hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a grey vest over a black shirt he had cut the sleeves off at some point because he didn't like sleeves too much. He had a pair of grey pants that had tears at the knees for reasons he didn't know why. After a while he looked back at the game and saw that he was back at his room in Nuvema Town.

_Great, now what_ he thought to himself.

He then began thought of everything he had done in the game: trade Celebi over so he could get Zorua, collect all eight badges, defeat Team Plasma and end their plans, and now officially defeat Alder and become the Champion. Then he remembered something he had been putting off for a while: hunt down the sages that had helped Team Plasma attempt to take control of the region.

_Well there's that _he thought.

He then headed west and came to the beach at the end. However, just as he was about to talk to Rood, he hears his mom's voice from inside the house.

"Brighton, could you help me with something" she called.

Brighton groaned and shoved the DS into his pocket. This wasn't exactly new to him. He had a theory that his mom was intentionally ruining his happiness because every time he was beginning to enjoy himself, his mom would always tell to do something, taking away all the momentum he had at what he was doing. Of course, seeing as she was his mom, there was no way he could say no. He opened the screen door and went to the kitchen, where his mom was finishing with the dishes.

"Could you take the garbage out" she asked.

Brighton rolled his eyes. He knew whenever his mom asked for help, he just ended doing all of the work. He agreed while putting his all black shoes on and went back outside. Not to his surprise, alone. When he was finished with his chores he decided to stay outside a little longer. It was nearing nighttime but the sun was still barely out. He made his way to the backyard and took a seat on a patio chair. He pulled his game out again and began helping Looker arrest all six sages. It took him nearly forty minutes just to get them all of them.

"That's that" he said cheerfully.

"Unknown…"

Brighton looked away from his game and looked around.

"What was that" he wondered.

"…Unknown…"

Brighton looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the noise. He looked at his game which began glowing white. He dropped his game and backed away breathing heavy.

"What the hell is going on here" he muttered.

Suddenly he saw seven letters with what seemed to be eyes on them come out of the game. They looked at him for a while before rearranging themselves into a word.

'Welcome'

Suddenly, they encircled Brighton and began spinning faster and faster. Finally, in a flash of white light, both the letters and Brighton disappeared. All the commotion got the attention of his mother, who opened the screen door and looked around.

"Brighton" she called once she saw the blank screen of the DS.

Deciding he had gone over to stay at his friend's house to play videogames, which is what he typically did during the summer, she sighed and closed the screen door.

**Well, this is certainly going to be an interesting story. What will Brighton find when he gets to the Unova region? Will he be able to get back to his own world? Check out the next chapter to see what will happen.**

**Oh, and to ****Serenity in Virginia, sorry for stealing the basic plot of the prologue of your story, or should i say failed story. When you've already used most of the known ways to get to a world and don't want to repeat due to hatred of staleness, your options tend to be a little… low.**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	2. Zoroark's Rampage

**What up peoplezez**

**New chapter, Same craziness**

**Enjoy**

Brighton was floating in some sort of white dreamscape. The letters that had the eyes on them were there to, yet there seemed to be more of them than what there were a few seconds ago. He wracked his brain and remembered that these letters were actually Pokémon called Unknown. The fact that they seemed to be real, however, wasn't very encouraging.

"Ok, what's going on here" he said out loud.

"…Unknown…"

Some of the letters began arranging themselves in front of them. When they stopped, they seemed to have formed a sentence.

'Your destiny awaits'

"What does that even mean" Brighton asked.

The Unknown in the sentence were now beginning to glow in a bright light. Brighton confused about what was going on, looked around and saw that all the Unknown were glowing in the same strange light. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his back, forcing him to sit up. It took him a few seconds to realize what was happening to him.

It appeared that Brighton was no longer in the dreamscape. Yet, for some strange reason, he wasn't at his home either. He now seemed to be on the floor of some sort of roomy building he had never seen before. Several screens were dotting the vicinity of the area. At the far end of the room was a nurse with curly red hair standing behind a desk with a white creature with oddly shaped ears.

"What the…" he muttered.

Looking around, Brighton saw people with different creatures he had never seen before. Then it hit him: he had somehow been sucked into the game. Although initially beginning to freak out, he quickly calm down and closed his eyes.

_Easy Brighton… easy…easy _he thought. _You're overreacting. Everything's fine. You just passed out on the lawn chair and are having some strange dream. In a few moments, your mom is going to wake you up and have you help her with something._

"Excuse me" a female voice said.

Brighton hesitantly opened one of his eyes. A young girl about his age was standing in front of him. She had green eyes and black hair partially tied through a pink hat. She was wearing a white tank top under a black vest, torn jeans, and pink shoes. She had a pink bag slung over her right shoulder.

"What are you doing on the floor" she asked.

"Trying to wake up" Brighton shrugged.

"And how is that going" she asked.

"Not well" Brighton said, opening his other eye.

"Well, we better get you up" she said. "You're starting to attract attention".

She did have a point. A couple of people were starting to notice his weird antics. The girl offered a hand to pull him up, but as he reached up to accept it, a tail came across his lap.

"Snivy?"

"Whoa" Brighton gasped, jumping back in surprise.

A small, snake-like Pokémon was standing in front of him. It seemed to be standing on two feet and had what seemed to be a leaf at the end of its tail.

"Are you all right" the girl asked.

"Yeah, just- just got caught off guard for a moment" Brighton nodded.

"Indeed" she said, offering her hand to pull him up again. "You're not from around here are you?"

"How can you tell" Brighton asked as he accepted it.

"Just thought I'd guess" she shrugged. "What's your name?"

"Brighton" he said. "Yours?"

"Marina" she said. "This Snivy is my partner. I just got him from Professor Juniper this morning".

"Sounds like you've just became a Trainer" Brighton said.

"Yeah" Marina nodded. "My dad's a little upset to see me go, but he knows it's what people my age do. You want me to show you around?"

"Sure" Brighton shrugged.

They then left the Pokémon Center and stepped out into the Marina's home: Nuvema Town. Despite his knowledge that the place was normally a laid back town, Brighton was surprised that there was a lot of modern buildings there. It still had that family friendly environment feel that he noticed when he played the game.

"Well, what do you think" Marina asked.

"Not bad" Brighton nodded. "I could get use to this place".

"Well, the sun is almost setting" Marina said. "You can stay at my place for the night if you want. My dad is part of the police force here so he won't mind if-"

BOOM!

Their conversation was thrown off by a loud explosion somewhere ahead of them.

"What was that" Marina asked.

"Whatever it was, it doesn't seem friendly" Brighton said. "We'd better check it out".

The two then went through the town toward the source of the explosion. Several other explosions slowed them down, but they managed to reach the destination: a marine at the far end of town. The explosions seemed to have come from several boats being attacked. Yet there seemed to be no one actually attacking them.

"Look" Marina said, pointing to a boat that had just caught on fire.

A lone figure was becoming visible through the flames. As it got closer, Brighton realized it was a Pokémon. It had jet black fur and a mane of red hair that had some sort of bead at the end. It had red claws at the ends of its feet and its eyes were completely soulless.

"What is that" Brighton asked.

"Let's see" Marina said, taking out her Pokédex and held it in front of the Pokémon.

'Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokémon, and the evolved form of Zorua. Known as a trickster, it creates illusions to protect its companions'.

As everyone there watched, a red aura formed around Zoroark's body. It then slammed its front legs on the ground, creating a giant shockwave that destroyed the rest of the ship. Before it completely sunk, Zoroark jumped off the ship and landed in front of Brighton and Marina. Brighton closed his eyes, expecting his end to come.

But nothing happened. Hesitantly, Brighton opened her eyes to see that Zoroark staring right at him. However, it seemed to have a look that he wasn't expecting to see: doubt.

"You" a voice said from out of nowhere.

Suddenly, an electrical surge shot through Zoroark's body, making it cry out in pain. Almost as if on cue, the flames and the wreckage began to fluxuate. Brighton and Marina were the first to notice that Zoroark seemed to be harnessed to some sort of electronic collar. Whatever it was, Brighton knew that it was forcing Zoroark to use its illusion powers to scare the city.

"We have to get the collar off" Brighton told Marina.

"Are you insane" she asked. "I'm not going near it with that thing going off".

Brighton groaned and went to get the collar off. However, just as he grabbed it, the shock coursed through him as well. Zoroark, sensing what the human was doing, began pulling at the collar as well. Finally, after some effort, the two managed to get it off and throw it in the bay. Zoroark then turned off its power on the boats, restoring them to their glory and showing everyone that what was going on wasn't real.

However, Brighton was fading fast. Just after the illusions subsided, his legs gave out underneath him and he fell over. Zoroark, seeing what was going on, quickly grabbed him before he hit the ground.

"Brighton, no" the voiced he had heard earlier said before he lost consciousness.

Marina, still struggling to comprehend what was going, came to her senses when Zoroark caught Brighton.

"We have to get him back to my place" she told the Pokémon, who nodded in agreement.

Before they could get anywhere, an odd spacecraft-like ship appeared in the air. A bald man in a white lab coat seemed to be riding with a smug look on his face.

"Citizens of Nuvema Town, you are now under the control of Neo Team Plasma" he said into a megaphone. "As you can see, my Zoroark is not to be messed with. Cooperate peacefully and you'll- wait what?"

The man looked down and saw that the attack he was apparently orchestrating had apparently stopped. Before he could do anything else, a man in a police uniform stepped out of the crowd.

"I don't think so" He said throwing a Pokéball into the air.

A green and black Pokémon appeared in the air. It appeared to have three eyes, one of which was on top of it. It also had three wings, each having the same red and blue markings on it.

"Sigilyph, use Gravity" the officer commanded.

'Sigilyph'

The Pokémon sent out a blue light that enveloped everything around it. Immediately, the ship crashed into the ground from the increase in gravity, causing the man who was riding it to be thrown forward, landing in front of the officer, who already had a pair of handcuffs out.

"You can explain what you're doing back at the precinct" he said, handcuffing the guy's hands before turning to Marina. "Make sure your new friend is OK Marina".

"OK, dad" she said before helping Zoroark carry Brighton carry him down the street.

**Wow, not a chapter in and already we're getting action. I wonder who that voice was. We'll find out next chapter.**

**Oh and a have a poll up to see what Brighton should do about the Champion scenario.**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	3. Remembrance

**What up peoplezez**

**While it's true the action in the last chapter was brief, I promise things will get better**

**New chapter, Same craziness**

**Enjoy**

Brighton had bed lying on the couch in Marina's home for about an hour. She had already verified that he was still alive after the incident at the marine. Zoroark, who had helped bring him in, had not left his side since. However, the longer they waited for him to regain consciousness, the more worried they became.

"Snivy".

Snivy had jumped on top of Brighton and was staring right at him.

"Snivy, you have an idea" Marina asked.

Snivy nodded and brought out Vine Whip. It then began whacking Brighton's face, earning it a growl from Zoroark.

"Gah" Brighton gasped, jumping up a bit.

"You're awake" Marina cried, running over and hugging her new friend.

They both let go quickly. Brighton didn't know what was more embarrassing: Marina making a big deal about him being out cold or the hug itself.

"So… what's been happening" Brighton asked.

"Not much" Marina shrugged. "Some creepy dude on a UFO was trying to take control of the town. My dad put a stop to it and is currently interrogating him with Officer Jenny".

"And all this happened while I was unconscious" Brighton asked.

"Yeah" Marina nodded. "There's just one thing I don't get though. Before my dad arrested him, the guy said something about Team Plasma. I thought those guy's had disbanded five years ago".

"Probably some nut job trying to make the attempt more serious than it was" Brighton laughed.

Zoroark let out a low grunt from the corner it was standing at. It was only then that Brighton noticed that the Pokémon was there.

"What's Zoroark doing here" he asked.

"Beats me" Marina shrugged. "I think Zoroark might be interested in you. It was a problem just getting him to let go of you. Well, I have to go help dad clear up any other trouble. See you later".

"What-wait-don't" Brighton sputtered, not wanting to be left in a room with a pretty much creepy Pokémon with him.

Marina had already made her way out the door before he could get a clear sentence out. He was now left to contend with Zoroark, who had left its corner and was now walking over to him. It stopped once it reached the couch, staring at the somewhat frightened human with forest green eyes.

"It's good to see you again, Brighton" a voice said out of nowhere.

"What the- there's that voice again" Brighton said angrily.

Zoroark didn't even act like he heard anything. It just continued staring at Brighton.

"Wait a minute… is that voice coming from you" Brighton asked.

Zoroark nodded, a smile forming on its face. It reached out and put one of its paws on Brighton's shoulder.

"Whoa" Brighton gasped, doing a bit of a back flip over the top of the couch and landing hard on the floor.

Zoroark ran around to help Brighton up. All that did, however, saw make the guy slide over to a nearby wall. Zoroark kept trying to pull him up, but Brighton kept swatting its paws away.

"You don't remember me, do you" Zoroark telepathically asked.

"Remember you" Brighton gawked. "I've never even met you".

"Darn it" Zoroark cried. "I'm too late!"

Zoroark, tears beginning to form in its eyes, ran outside to the front yard. Moments later, a rather loud explosion was heard. His fear now replaced by an odd curiosity, Brighton picked himself up and made his way outside. Zoroark, its paws outstretched, was standing in front of as rather large hole blasted into the fence. At that point, a thought entered Brighton's head.

"Was that… Focus Blast" he asked.

"Yeah… why do you care" Zoroark replied bitterly.

"I had taught a Zoroark that same move before-" Brighton said before faltering.

Zoroark turned to look at Brighton, a look of shock registering on his face.

"Oh my" Brighton gasped. "You're my Zoroark, aren't you?"

"You remember" Zoroark cried.

The next few moments happened so fast that Brighton didn't know what was going. Before he could react, Zoroark had tackled him and pulled him into a tight hug, letting the tears it was creating soak into his shirt. Regaining his composure, Brighton managed to struggle free from the hug and scramble away from Zoroark.

"Wha- this is insane" he gasped, devoid of any happiness that they had met. "I'm from the real world. This can't be happening".

"You aren't from that world" Zoroark said. "Your body and essence had been sent there when we were being tortured by those Neo Team Plasma goons".

"What does this have to do with me" Brighton asked.

"All of it" Zoroark replied. "You were the fastest rising Trainer in Unova history. You had beaten the old Team Plasma and had become Champion within a month. Who would not want to take advantage of that?"

"Ok, then how did this 'Neo' Team Plasma get us" Brighton asked, instantly regretting what he was going to find out as Zoroark led him back into the house.

"Well, about a year after you became Champion, N had returned and reformed Team Plasma with a new direction" Zoroark said. "They were still trying to get Trainer to make Pokémon equals, sure, but they were no longer trying to force this down anyone's throats. However, over time, rumors of a splinter cell had begun to form throughout the region. Once your second year as Champion started, the old Team Plasma had disappeared completely".

"Ok" Brighton hesitantly nodded.

"We had gone to Celestial Tower because that was thought to have been the last place they had been" Zoroark went on. "Once we got there, however, a bunch of these goons and blue outfits ambushed us and had tortured us for hours on end to find out what had made us so resilient when Team Plasma last tried to rise to power".

"This still doesn't explain how my 'body and essence' ended up back home" Brighton asked.

"I didn't get it either" Zoroark shrugged. "One of the goons that had caught us was right in the middle of interrogating you when you just… disappeared. None of the high ups knew what had happened. So they disguised one of them up as a spokesperson and told them you had stepped down as Champion and had wanted to travel the world. Naturally, your older brother didn't believe it".

"Wait… I'm an only child" Brighton interrupted.

"Yeah, maybe in that other world" Zoroark laughed. "But here you had an older brother who had been a Trainer long before you had started… though he had a hard time getting the kind of success you had".

"Ok" Brighton nodded, still not following what was going on.

"Anyway, your brother, after you had disappeared, rose through the ranks and became Champion" Zoroark continued. "Apparently, the Gym Leaders were impressed by his tenacity and began strengthening their Pokémon as well. Now, Unova is known as the strongest league in the world. Only trainers serious about battling come here".

This was all becoming more complicated then he thought. He had somehow actually been the Champion of something he had only seen in videogames and TV shows.

"What about the rest of my team" he asked, dreading this answer more than anything.

"My antics this morning should give you a pretty good idea about what happened to them" Zoroark replied sadly.

Brighton was in complete shock. Not only had he found out that he was actually from the Pokémon world, but his team was apparently being used by some evil organization. Without realizing what he was doing, he got up off the couch.

"I'm going to rescue my team" he said.

"What" Zoroark gawked. "Why?"

"Why not" Brighton laughed. "Apparently I've done this sort of thing before. How hard can it be?"

"Well, if that's what you're going to do, then I'm going with you" Zoroark said happily. "But we should probably wait 'til tomorrow. Oh Brighton… I'm happy to see you again!"

Zoroark had pulled Brighton into another hug. Brighton wasn't sure how to react this time. While it was still kind of creepy, it still seemed kind of right. Maybe Zoroark was right about him being from this world. Hesitantly, he accepted the hug from the shocked Pokémon.

Suddenly, a flash of light hit him in the face. Slipping free from the hug, he staggered backward; bracing himself on an armchair shaped like a Pokémon he knew was called Beartic.

"Are you are right" Zoroark asked.

Brighton didn't respond. Instead he just stood as a bunch of images swam through his mind.

_Flashback…_

A young boy, no older than nine, was opening the patio door to his snow covered backyard. He had been hearing whimpering from his upstairs bedroom and had decided to take a look. He turned on the flashlight and began scanning the backyard. After a while, the patio door opened again and another boy stepped out. He looked exactly like the younger one, but looked like he was around ten. Behind him was a small, pig-like Pokémon with orange skin and a brown face followed him out the door.

"Brighton, what are you doing" the older boy asked. "You know mom doesn't like it when you go outside without a jacket".

"Quiet" Brighton hissed. "I thought I heard something Jeremy".

The two brothers stood there, listening for any sort of noise. After a while the whimpering noise was heard, and it seemed a lot closer.

"What's making that noise" Brighton asked.

"I don't know" Jeremy said. "Tepig, help us look".

The Pokémon nodded and began sniffing around. Brighton and Jeremy began looking around as well. For a while, they didn't find anything. They were just about to head back in after deciding their neighbors were playing a trick on him when a rustling noise made both of them jump.

A small Pokémon was making its way out of one of the bushes. It looked like a small fox. It had sleek, jet black fur with red patches at various parts of its body. It seemed to be staring at them longingly.

"What Pokémon is that, Jeremy" Brighton asked.

"Let me see" Jeremy muttered, taking out the Pokédex he had gotten that morning.

'Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokémon. It takes the forms of others in order to catch them off guard before striking back. Its tail is visible when impersonating humans'.

"Aren't Zorua rare around here" Brighton asked.

"They are" Jeremy nodded, a grin appearing on his face. "And I'm going to catch this one".

Jeremy pulled out a small red and white ball shaped out of his pocket and enlarged it. He was about to throw it when the Zorua stumbled a bit.

"Hold up" Brighton said, swatting the ball out of his brother's grip.

He took a step forward and noticed that some of those red spots were actually blood stains. Worse still was that it had several wounds peppering its body, some of which were still bleeding freely.

"Its hurt" Brighton announced

"Its hurt" Jeremy repeated, fear rising in his voice. "What do we do?"

"Don't look at me" Brighton snapped. "You're the Trainer".

"Uh… we've got to get it to the Pokémon Center" Jeremy said hesitantly. "They'll know what to do".

Brighton scooped up the injured Pokémon and followed his brother and Tepig out of the backyard.

_Present day…_

Just as quickly as it had come, the images left. Brighton was slightly dazed about what was going on as Zoroark helped him into the chair. He didn't know why, but he thought he might have had a flashback to his previous life.

**Interesting turn of events. What happened in Brighton's life that Zoroark knows about? And what was with that flash?**

**Oh and I started a poll for the other Pokémon story. Check it out!**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	4. Home is Where the Start is

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry for the long wait between updates. I would have had it done sooner but I didn't have the time to finish it until now.**

**Enjoy**

"So let me get this straight" Marina said. "You're were actually the Brighton- the Trainer who had taken out Team Plasma and became the Champion within a month- and had been sent to some sort of alternate reality while a splinter cell in the original Team Plasma was using your whole team to cause trouble thruought the region?"

"Yeah" Brighton shrugged. "That about sums it up".

The both of them were standing outside the Pokémon Center. They were heading over to Professor Juniper's lab so that Brighton could get a Pokédex of his own since he was going to travel with Zoroark. However, Marina was skeptical about the situation; forcing Brighton to recount the story Zoroark had told him the previous night. However, the more information he poured into it, the less Marina was beginning to believe. Brighton noticed this quickly.

"You don't believe me do you" he asked.

"Not really" Marina shrugged.

"I thought as much" Brighton laughed.

"There's one thing I don't get though" Marina said. "How could Zoroark have told you all this when it's common knowledge that Pokémon can't talk?"

"Don't know" Brighton shrugged. "I'll ask Zoroark about that later".

They made it to Professor Juniper's lab without any further discussion of what Zoroark had said. When they didn't see her in the main lab, they figured she was out back studying Pokémon that were there. When they got outside, they saw two people trying to corral a group of pony-like Pokémon Brighton knew were called Blitzle with a pig-like Pokémon that was bipedal had black armor around it and had a beard of fire.

"Who's that Pokémon" Marina muttered, pulling out her Pokédex.

'Emboar, the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Tepig. A caring Pokémon by nature, it attacks opponents using flame covered blows from hands ignited by its flame beard'.

The two people hear the noise and turned around. One of them was a woman with light brown hair and a white lab coat. The other person looked surprisingly like Brighton, except that he was slightly taller, his hair was a dirty blonde, and he was wearing all black. Brighton knew that the woman could only be Professor Juniper, yet he didn't know who the other person was.

"Oh, my… Brighton" Professor Juniper gasped.

Although not as fast as Zoroark was, Professor Juniper still caught him off guard with a warm hug.

"Oh Brighton, I thought we'd never see you again" Juniper said, unaware that she was choking him.

Marina didn't know what to think about this. Not only did it appear that Brighton was right about being here before, but the reaction from Professor Juniper was just as surprising. Maybe Brighton was right about being the Champion before his brother was.

After a while, Brighton started tapping the Professor in the arm.

"What" she asked.

"Air..." Brighton gasped.

"Oh- sorry" Juniper gasped, letting him go and allowing him to get a few breaths in.

The young man who was standing a little way back stepped up and began walking toward them. The similarities between him and Brighton were even more pronounced up closer.

"Brighton" he said curtly.

"Let me guess… Jeremy" Brighton replied.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here after what you did" Jeremy said.

"Wha-" Brighton sputtered, having no clue what was going on.

When they were face to face, Jeremy pulled back to throw a punch, forcing Brighton to put his hands up in defense. The moment of shock allowed Jeremy to slip a hug in as well.

"How ya doing, you old pirate" he laughed "So good to see ya!"

"Great… you to" Brighton muttered, all the while wondering why he couldn't go a few seconds without someone hugging him.

"Well… tell me" Jeremy said. "What happened to you? Where did you go?"

As much as he hated having to go through with it, Brighton told the professor and his "brother" the same story that Zoroark had told him the previous night. When he finished, all traces of happiness in them were gone.

"It makes sense in a way" Jeremy said. "You were never the one to just leave without telling anyone. But still, an alternate world where Pokémon don't exist? How is that even possible?"

"I've been asking myself that same question all day" Marina said.

"Hello, what have we here" Jeremy said in mock surprise. "Hello I'm-".

"I know who you are Jeremy" Marina said. "In fact, you'd better be on notice because I'm coming for your title in the future".

"Yeah well not if my brother has anything to say about that" Jeremy said.

"Uh… in all honesty, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do once I get my team back" Brighton said. "I don't even know where they are to begin with".

"Well, Why don't you try heading over to Accumula town first" Jeremy said. "I have a contact there who tells me he has something that you might want".

Brighton was slightly surprised by this. It was good that Jeremy knew someone that would help him, but he didn't get what he possibly had that could actually "help" him without having him crack.

_Later that day…_

"This is it" Brighton asked.

"Yeah" Jeremy said. "Our parents moved away shortly after your disappearance. They were pretty torn up about it".

Brighton, Jeremy, and Zoroark were now walking through a long abandoned house that was supposedly their old home. While most of the place was bare and covered with dust and cobwebs, several pieces of furniture were still there, covered in white sheets to keep anything from happening to them. Brighton kept having strange feelings of de ja vu with every room he went in.

"You really don't remember this place, do you" Jeremy asked.

"Not really" Brighton shrugged.

"Neither do I" Jeremy laughed. "This is actually my first time back in Nuvema town in quite a while".

The last room they went in was Brighton's old bedroom. This was the only room where everything wasn't covered down. There was at least a foot of dust on the cupboard and in the closet. The bed and clothes seemed to have taken the worst of it, as several burn marks were on the sheets and tears were on all the clothes.

"I'll leave you two alone" Jeremy said.

He left the room without saying anything else, heading back outside to wait for them to leave. Brighton didn't really mind. He wasn't really that much of a people person either way.

"This was really my room" he asked Zoroark.

"Yeah" Zoroark nodded. "From what I heard, your parents left all your stuff here because of the memories. The building was left unoccupied in honor of you".

Brighton seemed to get the gist of what Zoroark was saying. He walked over to the bed and placed his hand on one of the posts. At once, a bright flash similar to the one he had yesterday hit him.

_Flashback…_

Brighton was crying in his bed. His life had been utterly destroyed. After waiting to make sure Zorua had made a full recovery, Jeremy left to start his journey, leaving Brighton friendless and alone. He wasn't sure how long he could take the pain.

He was so upset that he didn't hear the door open. Zorua had slipped into the room and made his way over to the bed, using an open drawer as a springboard to jump on top. Gently, he nuzzled the back of the kid's neck.

"Hey Zorua" Brighton sobbed, turning to face the Pokémon. "I wish you didn't see me like this. I just- I just miss Jeremy".

Zorua let out a low growl, and sat down on top of the blanket.

"I know you miss him to" Brighton said. "Jeremy was the only friend I ever had. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do without him".

Zorua let out another low growl. He then slipped under the sheets and nuzzled next to Brighton. Surprised by this, Brighton gave a weak smile and gently put his arm around the young Pokémon.

_Present day…_

The flash ended, leaving Brighton standing there as is nothing happened. He took his hand of the bed post and turned to Zoroark, who was staring at him with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you all right" the Pokémon asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine" Brighton said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… it's just that your eyes just sort of glazed over a bit" Zoroark said.

"I sure it was nothing important" Brighton said.

Not interested in letting this conversation to go any farther, he left the room and went outside where his brother was, Zoroark following right behind him every step of the way.

**Wow. Brighton seems to be really popular.**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	5. Return of the Samurott

**What up peoplezez**

**Due to getting constant complaints about how why stories are written, I've decided to change my writing style a little bit. Don't worry; this will not affect my ideas at all.**

**New chapter, Same craziness**

**Enjoy**

"What do you mean I can't come with you," Marina whined.

"I mean that this is my problem," Brighton said. "You still have your own journey to go through. Meanwhile, I have to rescue my team and stop Neo Team Plasma".

Brighton and Marina were standing at the end of the road leading out of Nuvema Town. Brighton had told Marina that he preferred that he would go on their journeys separately from each other, as he didn't want getting his Pokémon back to interfere with her journey. However, she didn't take the news lightly.

"But I wanted to go with you," she said.

"No," Brighton said. "I know you expect help getting through your journey, but, in all honesty, I'm just as new at this as you are".

"Fine" Marina said. "But just know that, if we do battle, I'm going to beat you".

With that, she began walking down the trail and was out of sight after a while. Zoroark, who was standing right next to Brighton, was looking between where he was and as far down the trail as he could see.

"Feisty, isn't she," he ask his friend.

"Ah, she's all right," Brighton said. "Well, we'd better head over to Accumula town".

_Several days later…_

Oh man… why is it I don't know how to cook?" Brighton moaned.

"You do… or at least you use to," Zoroark said.

They had finally made it to Accumula Town after several days of walking through the forest the path was in. Jeremy had left them supplies and some food to heat up, something that Brighton, who never really had to cook as far as he could know, was unable to figure out. They were now sitting at a table at the Pokémon Center waiting for the lunch he had ordered. After a while the food arrived, being carried by a man he didn't know.

"Why is it difficult to tell who the strong are?" the man asked.

"Because Pokémon are the equalizers," Brighton replied, remembering a sentence Jeremy told him to say when he was supposed to meet his contact.

"You must be Brighton," the man said. "Your brother said you were coming over here to retrieve something I've been saving for you. My name is Jack. I'm a close friend of Jeremy's".

Uh-huh… right." Jeremy said as he began eating.

"Wow… you are hungry" Jack said.

"Yeah well, it's not like I know how to cook," Brighton said as he went for another bite.

"Well you don't have to worry about that," Jack said. "I got a call from Jeremy yesterday. He asked me to help you with this whole Neo Team Plasma situation that's happening".

"Oh- that won't be necessary," Brighton hastily said.

"I thought you might say that," Jack said.

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a small box. Brighton immediately recognized it as a Badge cased. However, he was surprised that there were only seven badges in it.

"I had just finished my battle with Brycen and received the Icicle badge, I had to come back here to deal with a… disturbance," Jack explained. "Unfortunately, I've been unable to leave because of it. Well, when you're done, I'd like to head over to my house".

Once Bright and Zoroark had finished eating, they followed Jack to a rather plain house. When they went in, the place seemed rather empty.

"Now what?" Brighton asked.

"Don't worry, I'll call him in," Jack said.

Brighton and Zoroark looked at each other, confused as to what he was talking about. Meanwhile, Jack stepped further into the house.

"I'm home," he called.

After a few scuffles, a Pokémon came out. It looked like a large sea otter. It was a dark blue and had tan pieces on parts of his body, the top piece having a horn at the top. It stared at the three of them for a while, then tackled Brighton, knocking him to the ground and began nuzzling him

"Samur... Samur"

Jack, after a while, began trying to pull Samurott of Brighton. What no one except Zoroark was noticing was that his eyes glazed over again.

_Flashback…_

Brighton now one year older, had just left his home, a light blue sea otter with a scalchop on its chest following close behind.

"Well Oshawott, are you ready for our journey?" Brighton asked.

"Osha… Oshawott"

Smiling, Brighton held out the Pokéball and Oshawott went back in. Brighton then turned around and began walking down the road. Before he got too far, a low growl came from behind him. Brighton turned around and saw Zorua jumping out of an open window.

"What are you doing, Zorua?" Brighton asked.

Zorua let out a growl and rubbed his head against his legs.

"Are you saying you want to come with me?"Brighton asked.

Zorua gave a nod, signaling he wanted to.

"All right then… you are now a part of my team," Brighton said.

With a happy growl, Zorua jumped into Brighton's arms, nuzzling itself into his chest.

"Together, we will win the Unova league," Brighton said.

_Present day…_

When Brighton came to, he was laying on a couch. Samurott and Zoroark were both looking over him, concerned looks on their faces.

"Are you all right?" Zoroark asked. "Your eyes glazed over again".

"Yeah," Brighton said. "Only now I'm starting to think I'm getting flashes of my former life".

"Well it's good that you're starting to remember who you are," Zoroark said. "Just try to remember a little bit at a time".

**Well, one down, four to go**

**I've decided to allow Brighton to compete in the Unova league once he finds all his Pokémon. I've already created Trainers he will meet along the way as well as the Neo Team Plasma high ups. We should see some of them in the next few chapters.**

**Oh, and if Brighton and the group seem like they're getting to places rather quickly, I will be skipping the actual traveling part from time to time to kind of make the story more about the plot.**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	6. Twin Battles Twin

**What up peoplezez**

**First battles coming up fast**

**Enjoy**

"Ok… enlighten me," Brighton said. "Why do we have to go to the Dreamyard again?"

"Because I've been hearing rumors that Neo Team Plasma is trying to siphon out dream energy for some energy," Jack said.

The two of them were on their way to Striaton city due to apparent Neo Team Plasma activity. They had decided to take a break on Route 2 and had decided to have a practice battle before they got into town to help Brighton get used to battling again. Since he only had two Pokémon on him at the moment, it was decided to be a tag match between Zoroark and Samurott and Jack's Sawk and Accelgor. Brighton knew they were fast Pokémon and began working on a strategy.

"I'll start things off," Jack called over. "All right Sawk, use Brick Break!"

Sawk ran at Zoroark and threw a heavy chop at it, which Zoroark barely managed to dodge.

"All right Zoroark, Flamethrower," Brighton commanded.

A torrent of flames shot straight Accelgor. On Jack's command, illusions of Accelgor were created, one of which took the Flamethrower and disappeared.

"Is that really the best you can come up with?" Jack asked. "I know you've been out of it for a while but you should at least know that-"

"Samurott, Blizzard" Brighton commanded.

A stream of harsh snow shot out of Samurott's mouth, eliminating the Double Team illusions and freezing both opponents in the process.

"All right, lets wrap this up," Brighton said. "Samurott, use Hydro Cannon, and Zoroark, use Focus Blast!"

A red ball of energy from Zoroark's hands was shot at Sawk, while a sphere of water was shot at Accelgor. Both attacks hit their targets dead on, shattering the ice dead on and leaving both Pokémon fainted with the all-too-familiar spiral eye look in the middle of the field.

"Well, it looks like I win." Brighton said, returning Samurott to its Pokéball.

"I guess you did." Jack said, recalling both his Pokémon. "I must admit you kinda caught me by surprise there".

"Kinda caught myself by surprise as well," Brighton laughed. "Well, we'd better get to a nearby Pokémon Center".

Jack nodded and they continued the rest of the way to Striaton city, reaching the Pokémon center in no time and giving their Pokéballs to Nurse Joy and Audino. Now all they had to do is wait for the check up to finish. After a while they began to hear sounds of an argument brewing.

"I'm telling you that's him over there." A girl hissed to her friend.

"Impossible," the boy said. "Do you honestly think that, after two years of being missing, that he would just show up out of nowhere?"

"Yes I do, and if you don't believe me then go ask him," the girl snapped.

"Fine, I will," the boy said.

Before he knew what was going on, one of the kids had walked up to Brighton.

"Excuse me," he said. "I hate bothering you about this but just to put my sister at ease, you wouldn't by any chance be Brighton would you?"

"Uh… that's what people have been telling me" Brighton hesitantly said.

"Ha, told ya," the girl laughed.

"That doesn't prove anything," the boy said. "He that it was only what people 'have been telling him'".

"Right… uh… who are you exactly," Jack asked.

"Oh, sorry," the boy said. "My name is Dorian. The girl you see right behind me is my twin sister, Nixie".

"Well, it's been nice to meet you," Jack said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Nixie said. "I've always wanted to meet the greatest Unova Champion in history".

"Right… uh why don't you just meet Jeremy," Brighton said.

"Oh please," Nixie laughed. "Jeremy can't hold a candle against you. You're the reason I got into Pokémon in the first place".

"Nixie, you know that isn't true," Dorian said. "A month ago we agreed that we would do this to be like Jeremy. You're only doing this because this guy is here".

"That's it, Dorian," Nixie said. "We are having a Pokémon battle right now".

"You're on, Nixie" Dorian said.

The two of them sped out to the dirt field in the back of the Pokémon Center. Brighton and Jack out of the interest of not wanting them to carry this too far, followed them outside. They immediately sat down on the bench and watched them have the battle.

"So how many Pokémon?" Dorian asked.

"Three against three works for me," Nixie said.

"Fine," Dorian said. "All right Gothorita, you're up first!"

A black Pokémon that looked like a Goth appeared out of the Pokéball. It began eying down Nixie with determination.

"Leaveanny, show him up," Nixie yelled.

A bipedal bug with leaves all over its body appeared out of its Pokéball. It began smirking it Gothorita, causing the Pokémon to glare at it.

"Brighton, could you please ref this?" Nixie asked.

"Uh… no thanks," Brighton said. "I'd rather want to sit this one out".

"I'll do it," Jack said, taking the spot where the referee would normally be. "This contest will be a three on three Pokémon battle. It can only end when all three of the opposing teams Pokémon are unable to battle. Both sides are able to substitute Pokémon. And begin!"

"All right, let's end this one quickly," Nixie said. "Leaveanny, use Razor Leaf".

Leaveanny sent razor sharp leaves from its wrists and sent them straight at Gothorita.

"Gothorita, use Light Screen," Dorian commanded.

A bright yellow cube form itself around the Pokémon. The leaves that were heading for it collided with the cube and bounced away from it, leaving Gothorita unharmed.

"Now follow up with Attract," Dorian commanded.

Gothorita blinked, causing a stream of hearts to leave its body. They collided with Leaveanny, causing it to stare lovingly at the opponent.

"Now, use Psychic," Dorian said.

Gothorita's eyes began glowing a light blue, causing Leaveanny to be covered in a blue light. It was then thrown into a nearby tree, causing it to faint.

"Leaveanny is unable to continue," Jack said. "Gothorita is the winner"

_Wow, Gothorita was able to overcome its type disadvantage _Brighton thought. _Dorian sure doesn't mess around._

Nixie angrily called back Leaveanny and pulled out another Pokéball.

"Axew, show him we mean business," Nixie yelled.

A small forest green dragon with white tusks appeared and stared at Gothorita.

"Really?" Dorian asked."That's really the best you can use to face me? This is going to be easier than I thought. Gothorita, Attract!"

Gothorita sent out another stream of hearts, aiming them at Axew. This time, Nixie seemed ready for them.

"Axew, use Protect" she commanded.

A blue shield formed in front of Axew, protecting it from being affected by Attract.

"Now use Dig" Nixie commanded.

Axew quickly went underground, shielding it from view. Moments later it appeared again, coming up in front of Gothorita and slamming into it. It fell backwards and landed hard on its face.

"Gothorita is unable to battle" Jack said. "Axew wins".

"We did it Axew," Nixie said.

Dorian recalled Gothorita, thanking it for a good battle.

"Well sister, you're better than I thought," he said. "However the real battle is just beginning. Frillisk, let's go".

What seemed to be a floating blue jellyfish appeared out of the Pokéball.

"So that's how you want to go down," Nixie said. "Axew, use Dragon Rage!"

Axew began building up energy, forming a blue ball of power in its mouth. However, Dorian didn't give it the satisfaction.

"Frillisk, use Ominous Wind," he commanded.

A gust of black wind came out of Frillisk's body, hitting Axew before it could fully form the attack. It tumbled backwards from the wind but managed to get up.

"Now use Water Pulse," Dorian commanded.

A clear ball of water shot out of the ghost and hit Axew. While it wasn't that affective, it did managed to do what Dorian intended it to do and confuse the dragon.

"Finish it off use Hex," Dorian commanded.

Frillisk channeled its ghost energy above its head, creating a giant eye. It then shot shock waves at Axew, and since it was affected by a status condition, the attack was able to overwhelm the dragon.

"Axew is unable to battle," Jack said. "Frillisk wins".

Nixie, obviously mad at being this far behind, recalled Axew and brought out her last Pokéball.

"Dewott lets finish this," she yelled.

A sea otter with two Scalchops on its legs came out. It stared at the ghost with an aggressive leer.

"Use Ice Beam," Nixie commanded.

A blue beam of light shot out of Dewott, pulling the ghost down with the weight of the now formed ice.

"Now, wrap it up with Water Gun" Nixie commanded.

A stream of water shot out, bulls-eying Frillisk and knocking it out.

"Frillisk is unable to battle," Jack said. "Dewott wins".

"Well Nixie, I'm surprised you managed to make it this far." Dorian said is he recalled Frillisk. "However I already know your Pokémon and their attacks. So it's inevitable that I win. Klink lets go".

A floating gear shot out of the Pokéball and stared Dewott down.

"Just because you're using Klink doesn't mean you'll win," Nixie said.

"We'll see about that," Dorian said. "Klink, Charge Beam!"

A beam of electric energy shot out of Klink's body and hit Dewott. The sea otter was frazzed for a moment but was able to hold on.

"I knew you were going to do that," Nixie said. "Dewott, use Revenge!"

Dewott began charging at Klink, Scalchops in hand. But, at Dorian's command, the same energy shield that Axew used appeared in front of Klink, blocking the attack that would have taken it out.

"Now let's wrap this up with Mirror Shot," Dorian commanded.

A metallic beam of light hit Dewott, who had no maneuverability to dodge the attack, dead on. It was blasted a few feet before landing on the ground, unable to get up.

"Dewott is unable to battle," Jack said. "Klink wins. And the victory goes to Dorian".

Nixie, unable to comprehend what was going on, recalled her Pokémon in shock. Dorian, smirking about his victory, recalled his and went into the Pokémon Center to let his team recover. After a while Nixie went in as well, with Brighton and Jack being careful to follow at a good distance.

**And that's a wrap**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	7. X Marks the Fight

**What up peoplezez**

**New chapter, Same craziness**

**Enjoy**

"I can't believe I lost," Nixie cried. "And in front of Brighton no less!"

"Oh, quit whining," Dorian said. "It's not like you died".

Nixie had been crying ever since she had lost to her brother. Every time someone went to cheer her up, but nothing they said was doing anything to lift her mood. Brighton and Jack were worried about what Nixie would do now, but Dorian didn't seem to think that it was that big a deal of it. Zoroark, who had just been cleared along with the other Pokémon, was resting his head on Brighton's shoulder.

"You know, as much as she creeps me out with her rabid fangirl like attitude, I kinda feel sorry for her," Jack said. "She really did want to win that match".

"Yeah well I'm glad she didn't," Brighton said. "I don't want to think about what she would do if she did win. And when the hell will she stop crying?"

"Don't worry about it," Dorian said. "She always cries when she loses. Give her a while and she'll be back to her old self in no time".

Unfortunately, they didn't get a chance to wait. At that moment, an out of breath Marina ran into Pokémon Center and made her way over to the both of them.

"There you are, Brighton," she said. "I need your help immediately".

"What happened?" Brighton asked.

"I was at the Dreamyard and had just captured a Munna when I had a problem. A bunch of weird people in blue robes appeared out of nowhere and stole the Pokéball that had Munna in it. I tried to get it back, but a man in a leather jacket stopped me before I had a chance".

"What Pokémon did he have?" Jack asked.

"A giant robot and a spider of some sorts," Marina said. "My Pokémon couldn't stand a chance".

Without missing a beat, Brighton, Jack, and Zoroark left the Pokémon Center, Marina following right behind them. Using a shortcut Jack had discovered when he first came to Striaton city, they managed to reach the Dreamyard in a few minutes. However, as Marina had said, the place was crawling with blue robed grunts surrounded by Woobat. Standing in the center of the group, being guarded by the robot and spider Marina had mentioned, was a sallow skinned man with dark sunglasses wearing a leather overcoat. The first thing Marina did was taking out her Pokédex and pointing it at the two Pokémon.

'Golurk, the Automaton Pokémon. It is believed that Golurk was created in ancient times to protect the ancient city that made it.'

'Galvantula, the Elespider Pokémon, and the evolved form of Joltik. It ensnares it prey in electrically charged webbing before consuming it.'

"Well, look who decided to show up," the man said. "I must say that with your reputation to protect your team, I'd expect you to have gotten here a little… sooner".

"Cut the small talk you crook," Brighton said. "What are you doing to my Pokémon?"

"And what are you doing to my Munna?" Marina added.

"Now that's a little cold for you, don't you think?" The man said." Here, take your pathetic Munna back. We have no time for weaklings like that".

The man took out a Pokéball and tossed it over to Marina. She instinctively caught it and quickly attached it to her belt.

"However, I have no intention of giving these two back," the man said. "They are too valuable to our plans for you to take back. Golurk… Galvantula… get rid of them".

Galvantula moved first by launching a Thunderbolt at them. They quickly dodged the attack and Zoroark launched a Focus Blast at them. Golurk quickly countered by using Stone Edge, destroying the attack before it could even get close. Deciding to try a ranged approach, Brighton called out Samurott and tried using Hydro Cannon, but Galvantula sent out another Thunderbolt and destroyed that attack

"This isn't working," Jack said. "We have to get up close".

"We can't," Marina said. "Golurk has the Iron Fist ability. That means if we tried to get up close, it would just use a punch attack and we'd be done for".

"Then how do we defeat them?" Jack asked. "The only way to stop them them is by destroying those harnesses, and if we can't get close enough to hit them, then there's no way we can win".

"There might be a way," Brighton said. "Do any of your Pokémon know Trick Room?"

"Yeah… why do you ask?" Jack asked.

"Bring it out," Brighton instructed.

"If you say so." Jack said, pulling out a Pokéball of his own. "Cofagrigus come out and use Trick Room!"

A golden sarcophagus with shadowy hands appeared out of the Pokéball. In a flash, its eyes glowed blue, and a clear cube surrounded all the Pokémon that were on the field.

"Marina, have two of your Pokémon attack the harnesses," Brighton instructed.

"Without a word, Marina called out Snivy and a Pansear and had them use Leaf Tornado and Incinerate. The two attacks, combined with Trick Room giving them the early attack, were powerful enough to knock the harnesses of both of them, returning them to their senses.

"Impressive," the man said. "It seems I underestimated you. However, don't think this will be the last time you deal with me. You'll know the true terror of Neo Team Plasma soon enough".

With that, the Woobat began using Gust to whip up a strong wind. When it died down, the man and the grunts were gone. All that was left was a small business card, which Marina picked up.

"X, VP of Company affairs," she read. "Why does that name seem familiar?"

"I'm not sure, but something about this seems suspicious," Brighton said.

"What's that on the ground?" Marina asked.

Looking at the ground, the group said two Pokéballs lying where parts of the harnesses were.

"I'd say they're Golurk and Galvantula's Pokéballs," Jack said.

Hesitantly, Brighton walked over and picked up the Pokéballs and pointed them at the Pokémon. Pressing the center button on each, Brighton made both Pokémon returned to their respective Pokéballs. Satisfied, the group headed back toward the city, Brighton and Zoroark lagging behind.

"Well one thing's for certain: we managed to get two members of our team back," Zoroark said.

"Yeah," Brighton sighed.

"You still don't believe you're from this world, do you?" Zoroark asked.

"Not really," Brighton said. "This is all getting too complicated. I don't know if I'll be able to handle this".

"Well no matter what happens, I'll be there for you, Brighton," Zoroark said.

**Hmm… a boss in the new Team Plasma. This makes things a whole lot more interesting.**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	8. Trio Leaders, Trio Winner

**What up peoplezez**

**First gym battle coming up fast**

**Enjoy**

"Well, I'd say today went pretty well," Jack said. "We got two of your Pokémon and we were able to put a dent in Neo Team Plasma's plans".

"Yeah but we still don't know what their motives are," Brighton said. "Apart from using my team to attack targets, we don't even know what they're planning".

Brighton, Jack, and Marina were sitting at one of the tables at the Pokémon Center deciding what they were going to do next while Golurk and Galvantula were being checked out by Nurse Joy. Marina was going to do a lot more training before he was going to challenge the Striaton Gym Leaders. Meanwhile, Brighton and Jack still had to figure out where this 'X' guy was going to attack next.

"Well, it looks like we won't be able to do anything for a while Brighton," Jack said. "Until we get some information on where they will be going next, we'll just have to stay here until someone mentions any occurrences that are happening".

"Great," Brighton laughed. "Now I'm stuck somewhere with literally nothing to do".

Marina made a motion to say something but quickly curled away. Somehow it did not go unnoticed.

"What?" Brighton asked.

"Well, I was just going to say… you could take the Gym challenge," Marina said.

"You know, that's not a bad idea," Jack said.

"Why would I bother taking the Gym challenge?" Brighton asked.

"Who knows?" Jack shrugged. "Maybe we'll find out something about Neo Team Plasma's plans while we're doing it".

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Marina said.

Brighton didn't say anything. Instead he just got up and went outside to where he had watched Dorian and Nixie have their battle. He sat down on the bench and stared up into the sky as he contemplated the events up to that moment. After a while the door opened again and Zoroark came out and sat down next to his friend.

"Are you all right?" the Pokémon asked.

"I'm fine," Brighton halfheartedly said.

"Worried about what'll happen if you challenge the Striaton Gym?" Zoroark asked.

"Pretty much," Brighton said. "I mean… I could do it just fine back in my world, but only because it was a game. I don't think I'll be able to do the same while I'm actually here".

"Brighton, you have nothing to worry about," Zoroark said. "If you have experience against them from that other world, then you shouldn't have a problem beating them now".

"… yeah, I suppose you're right," Brighton sighed. "It can't be that hard right?"

_The next day…_

Brighton and Zoroark were standing across a dirt battlefield from the Cress, Chili, and Cilan, the three Leaders that made up the Striaton gym. Brighton had always thought that it was kinda stupid that the Unova Pokémon all had some sort of theme behind them, the Striaton gym being that it was located in the back of a restaurant. Yet Brighton wasn't one to criticize design so he just let it slide.

The Gym Leaders, though initially shocked that Brighton had returned, were more than willing to accept his challenge. They had even agreed to make it a Triple Battle at the request of Jack, who was serving as the referee for the match. Brighton figured they had to have some strategy to try and defeat him, so he had spent the entire morning thinking up a team that could defeat all three of them at once.

"Are you ready, Brighton?" Cress asked.

"I don't see how I'll be able to get out of this now, so yeah, I'm ready," Brighton said.

"All right then, start the match Jack," Chili said.

"The Striaton Gym battle between Brighton the challenger and Cress, Chili, and Cilan the Gym Leaders is about to begin," Jack declared. "It will be contested under Triple Battle rules and will only end when all three Pokémon on either side are unable to continue".

The three Gym leaders sent out their Pokémon: a Simisear, Simisage and Simipour respectively. Figuring they would use those three, Brighton motioned for Zoroark to go onto the field and sent out Samurott and Galvantula as well.

"Ah, so you're going with a speedy approach to this battle," Cilan said. "I must say this is starting to have the flavor of a very intense battle".

"The Gym leaders have the first move," Jack said. "And begin!"

"Let's start this one off nice and slow," Cress said. "Simipour, Work Up!"

Simipour began glowing with a light red mist, signaling that his attacks are now powered up. Chili and Cilan used the same attack as well, meaning that they were stronger as well.

"Just because your Pokémon are powered up doesn't mean you're going to win," Brighton said. "Galvantula, use Bug Buzz!"

Galvantula let out a loud screech that sent red shockwaves of light straight at its opponents. While it didn't do much damage wise, aside from Simisage, it did give Zoroark an opening to launch a Focus Blast. Though fazed, all three opponents still had enough energy left. Simisear tried using Fire Blast to stop Galvantula, but on Brighton's command, Samurott intercepted it with Blizzard, destroying the attack and creating a thick fog from the steam.

"All right, let's finish this," Brighton said. "Samurott, use Hydro Cannon and Galvantula use Thunderbolt!"

Once Samurott shot the sphere of water, Galvantula covered it with an electric blast. While Simisage and Simipour were able to get out of the way, Simisear wasn't so lucky and was taken out by the combined attack.

"Simisear is unable to battle," Jack declared.

"Well, that was a most intriguing combination you came up with." Cress said as his brother recalled his Pokémon. "However don't think you've beaten us just yet. Simipour, use Scald".

Simipour sent out a boiling hot stream of water at Samurott, who responded with a Blizzard. The attack froze the water and made it crash into the ground. With the block, Galvantula was able to score a clean hit on Simipour with a Cross Poison, afflicting it with a poison condition that took out the rest of its strength.

"Simipour is unable to battle," Jack declared.

"Well, well, well, it seems we've underestimated how much of your battling skills you managed to retain," Cilan said. "But don't think that you'll have me beaten as easily, Brighton. Simisage has the most elegant, power, and sophistication of any-".

"Zoroark, Flamethrower," Brighton commanded.

Cilan's monologue about Simisage was interrupted by a stream of fire from Zoroark's mouth it caught the Pokémon square in the chest. Samurott finished it up with Megahorn, slamming its light covered horn into Simisage and taking it out of the battle.

"Simisage is unable to battle," Jack declared. "The victory goes to Brighton!"

Cilan, in a state of disbelief, called back Simisage. He then walked over to his brothers, who were just as shocked as he was. They could only watch as Jack walked over and presented him with the trio badge. What they didn't see was the flashback that happened when he touched the badge.

_Flashback…_

"Pansage is unable to battle," Cress declared. "Zorua wins. Which means the victory goes to Brighton".

"We did it, Zorua," Brighton said.

Zorua ran up to Brighton and jumped into his arms, where he received a warm hug for winning their first gym battle.

"Well, I must say your Zorua has a powerful aroma despite being so young," Cilan said. "That aroma will certainly be a big factor for you in the future. So, in honor of your victory against me, my brothers and I would like to present you with the Trio badge".

"Thanks." Brighton said as he accepted the badge from Cilan.

_Present day, that night…_

"Here are your Pokémon, Brighton." Nurse Joy said as she led Zoroark and the Pokéballs that had Samurott and Galvantula in them.

"Thanks a lot," Brighton said.

He then went up to the room he was staying at while at the Pokémon Center. Once he changed into his pajamas, he went straight to bed.

"Well, one down seven to go," Zoroark said.

"Yeah." Brighton nodded. "No stopping now".

**Well that's one gym battle out of the way. Sorry if some of you thought it was pretty one sided. I'm still kinda getting use to writing them.**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	9. Museum Mayhem

**What up, peoplezez**

**Sorry for taking so long to update the story. I had this story well in mind but was unable to will myself to finish it.**

**Regardless, enjoy**

Ok, what do we do now, Jack?" Brighton asked. "What are we supposed to do since those Neo goons aren't attacking?"

"Well since there no attacks currently taking place, I suggest we get your battle with Lenora under way," Jack said.

Brighton, Zoroark, and Jack had made it to Nacrene city without as much as an incident in the two weeks it took to get there. They were no signs of Neo Team Plasma anywhere in the city, meaning the only thing to do in the city except have Brighton challenge Lenora at the Nacrene gym. However this was only making Brighton feel more uneasy.

"Well, I think we should wait 'til tomorrow before we deal with that," Brighton said. "My feet are still sore and I haven't really thought of a strategy for Lenora yet".

"Okay, I'm cool with that," Jack said. "Let's find the nearest Pokémon Center".

With that, the group made their way toward the Pokémon Center on the other side of the city. On the way there, Zoroark couldn't help but notice that Brighton had been constantly looking over his shoulder ever since they got to the city.

"Uh, Brighton… why are you looking over your shoulder like that?" the Pokémon asked.

"Because I have the feeling that we're going to be attacked by those Neo goons sooner or later," Brighton said. "And if action movies have taught me anything, it's that if the bad guys are taking this long to ambush us, it means we've got an unwelcome surprise coming our way".

_The next morning…_

Tomorrow felt like it came rather early in Brighton's mind. Not only did he intentionally stay up half the night worrying about whether or not those Neo Team Plasma thugs were going to ambush them in the middle of the night, but when he did get to sleep, it felt like he didn't get any sleep at all. Now he was slowly following behind Jack and Zoroark as they made their way to the Nacrene Museum, which they knew was where the Gym was.

"Come on, Brighton!" Jack yelled when Brighton was getting too far behind. "That Gym battle isn't going to do itself you know!"

"Oh shut up!" Brighton snapped. "You try preparing for something when your brain feels like its dead weight".

"Oh, you'll do fine." Jack said once Brighton managed to catch up. "Remember. Lenora's a Normal Type user, so all you have to do is control the battle and you'll do fine".

"Yeah, assuming I won't doze off in the middle of it," Brighton retorted.

Zoroark didn't know which side to be on for this one. While it was true that Brighton did seem a little burned out, he had promised that he would battle Lenora today. Yet, at that particular moment, he was having a hard time deciding whether the need to be back on top or his love for Brighton was more important.

However, before he could decide, a large explosion a good distance ahead of them made them jump. People in the shops next to them immediately ran out into the street to see what was going on.

"That sounded like it came from the Museum," Jack said. "Come on".

Jack immediately ran in the direction of the explosion, oblivious to the fact that Zoroark had double back to keep Brighton on his feet. Moving quickly through the mass of people that had formed outside from the commotion, he eventually made his way to the entrance of the Museum. There, he saw a scene taking place: Lenora, the Gym leader of Nacrene city, was being backed into a corner by a group of blue robed Plasma grunts that were backed up by a large group of Woobat. In between her and them was a small chinchilla with scarf like white fur around its neck which Jack immediately recognized as Cincinno.

"Really, guys?" Jack laughed. "You've already messed up an attempt to steal something from the Museum, yet here you are again. You don't learn from your mistakes do you?"

"Crap, it's that guy again," one of the grunts moaned.

"Well, what do you know," Lenora said. "If it isn't Jack. I was expecting you to be preparing to battle Drayden by now".

"Something came up," Jack said. "Besides, I can think of a better reason to mess with Neo Team Plasma than what they did to my friend. Tell 'em like it is, Brighton. Brighton?"

Yet Jack didn't hear Brighton didn't say anything. Turning around, he saw that Brighton and Zoroark weren't even there, earning himself a chorus of laughter from the Team Plasma grunts.

"Oh come on dude," Jack said. "You can at least try to get over here".

"Don't worry about your friend Jack," Lenora said. "Just make sure these clowns don't do anything to the Museum".

"Yeah, I know." Jack moaned while pulling out a Pokéball. "Cofagrigus, let's go".

The sarcophagus came out and stood right in front of Jack. The Plasma grunts were immediately on edge due to them knowing that it was one of his best Pokémon.

"Cofagrigus, rapid fire Shadow Ball," Jack commanded.

Cofagrigus immediately fired Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at the Woobat, taking out most of them in one hit. The grunts were immediately petrified and unable to do anything to stop them.

"All right Cincilo, let's wrap this up with Hyper Voice," Lenora commanded.

After tucking its ears in, Cincilo let out a high pitched scream that enveloped the remaining Woobat. Within seconds, they were all defeated.

"Grr, don't think you've beaten us." one of the grunts snapped as the recalled their defeated Pokémon. "We were only a stalling tactic to keep Lenora occupied. Hopefully we'll have given our boss enough time to complete her mission in Pinwheel forest".

With that, the grunts immediately ran off, heading off in no particular direction. Jack and Lenora just stared at them, unable to understand what was going on.

"Well… that was an interesting turn of events," Lenora said.

"I know." Jack said while recalling Cofagrigus. "I especially found what they said at the end interesting. What could they possible want from Pinwheel forest?"

"If my guess is right, then there's going to be trouble," Lenora said. "We have to get to Pinwheel forest before anything else happens".

**Uh oh, if Neo Team Plasma is going after what I think it's going after, then there's going to be trouble big time**

**Again, sorry about not updating sooner. I'll try to get the next chapter in as soon as I can**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	10. Forest Fighter

**A/N: credit goes out to Serenity in Virginia for helping work out the kinks in this chapter**

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry for taking way too long to get this chapter in. it has just been rut after rut after rut when making this, so don't ask what I've been going through**

**Enjoy**

"That sounded like it came from the Museum," Jack said. "Come on".

Jack immediately ran in the direction of the explosion, oblivious to the fact that Zoroark had double back to keep Brighton on his feet. With a snort about how thick Jack was, the two immediately began slowly making their way toward the museum. However, they had barely started moving when another odd noise was heard above them.

Looking up, they saw a helicopter fly right past them. They could tell it was part of Neo Team Plasma because of the insignia on the side. However, what was strange was that it was not heading toward the Museum as one might expect, but toward Pinwheel forest.

"Why are those clowns heading toward Pinwheel forest?" Zoroark asked. "That's not even close to where the action is."

"Unless attacking the Museum's not their plan," Brighton said.

"What do you mean?" Zoroark asked.

"Think about it," Brighton said. "If the bad guys are going somewhere that has nothing to do with where the action is, than the action that happened is probably just a diversion for what's really going on".

"And action movies told you this?" Zoroark asked.

"Actually, I got that from a videogame," Brighton laughed.

The duo took a left and made their way toward Pinwheel forest. It was relatively easy to get through because most of the buildings they passed were warehouses where people usually made their art. Within moments they had made their way to the entrance to the forest.

"There's something I don't get though," Brighton said. "Why would Neo Team Plasma, with all the places they could attack, head toward an out of the way forest?"

"If I had a guess, I'd say the only real explanation as to why they're here would be that they're going after Virizion," Zoroark said.

"Who?" Brighton asked.

"Virizion? One of the three sworsmen? The legendary Pokémon that is said to live in the deepest part of Pinwheel forest?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Groaning slightly to his friend's lapse in memory, Zoroark led Brighton into the forest. Fortunately, the Team Plasma goons were a good enough distance away from them that they could tail them without being noticed. However, what they forget was that the forest also served as a natural maze due to its size that it made it virtually impossible to tell if they were going the right way or not. Eventually they somehow managed to lose sight of the grunts and get completely lost.

"Great," Zoroark groaned. "Now where are we supposed to go?"

"Oh, relax dude," Brighton said. "It's not as bad as you're trying to make it out to be".

"Not as bad?" Zoroark repeated. "Brighton, I know you've been out of the loop and all, but it's easy to wind up lost in Pinwheel forest if you don't know where you're going. Since we don't know where we're going, how are we going to stop them from attacking Virizion?"

As if on cue, another large explosion took place, this time further ahead of them on the trail they were on. The two just stood there for a moment trying to take in what just happened.

"Well, when in doubt, follow the giant explosion," Brighton smirked.

With a sigh, Zoroark led Brighton along the trail. It branched off several times but they always knew which way to go because they now kept hearing loud cries further down the trail. When they finally managed to reach the area where the explosion was, they weren't surprised to see the Neo Team Plasma grunts using Woobat to gang up on a single Pokémon. However, what was different was that a woman in a pinstripe work dress was at the front of them with a floating Pokémon with poison purple skin and lavender frills all over its body. It was airborne from six black, strip like wings and its hands were really two heads. When the duo crunched through the dry foliage toward them, she turned around and they could see a scowl form on her face.

"I thought I told you ingrates to make sure nobody came into the forest?" she snapped at one of the grunts.

"We were sure the others did, Mistress Solana," the grunt said. "We told them to attack the Museum because it's the best place to lure attention away from what we're doing".

"Well clearly they failed," she snapped. "If you're letting that brat follow you here, then it's obvious they don't know what they're doing!"

"But Mistress Solana…?"

"Oh forget it," Solana groaned. "It's not my place to complain about their incompetence. Only our dear leader has the power to expose of those fools who fail to fit his grand scheme".

"Hello, we're right here," Brighton said. "We can hear every word you're saying".

Solana let out an extremely audible groan of rage. Apparently whoever this Solana person was it was obvious that she had quite a few anger control issues.

"Who told you to talk, you little whelp?" Solana snapped. "Everything was going just fine until you showed up!"

"Well sorry to disappoint you but explosions tend to draw too much attention than what you want," Brighton said. "Besides, you happen to have one of my Pokémon wearing one of your little hypno-collars and I'd appreciate it if I got it back".

"Well sorry to disappoint_ you_, but there's no way I'm ever going to give your Pokémon back," Solana laughed. "Now, Hydreigon, why don't you do us a favor and get rid of these… pests".

Hydreigon turned around and began to close in on the two of them. Brighton immediately backed up, allowing Zoroark to step in front of him and face off against the dragon.

_Let's see, if I remember correctly, Hydreigon knows Dragon Pulse, Double Team, Dark Pulse, and Ice Fang_. _However, taking into account it's speed and special attack… this might take a while, _Brighton thought, audibly gulping.

"Focus Brighton," Zoroark turned his head to Brighton. Brighton brought his attention back to the fight.

"Right, Zoroark start off with Focus Blast!" Zoroark brought his claws together then pulled them apart slowly, revealing a large, growing pinkish sphere forming in his hands. With a roar he released the blast in a direct line toward Hydreigon. Solana simply smirked.

"Double Team," she said coolly. Hydreigon instantly split into four copies. The focus blast struck one the one of the Hydreigons, which vanished in a flash of light.

"Ice Fang!" she continued. The Hydriegons flew at Zoroark blindingly fast, cool blue air escaping all nine of their maws.

"Zoroark, dodge!" Brighton yelled but it was too late. The three Hydreigon latched onto his arms and neck, ice beginning to form at the bites.

"Shake them off with a Night Daze!" Brighton countered. With a lot of force, Zoroark attempted to bring his arms down in hopes of setting off the attack, the frozen limbs making the task even harder. Bringing his arms up for extra force, he slammed his arms into the ground, setting off a dark explosion. Solana and Brighton covered their eyes from the dust. When the smoke settled, two Hydreigons were left floating there and Zoroark was nowhere to be found.

"Zoroark?" Brighton asked no one in particular. Solana growled at the turn of events.

"Search for him!" the two Hydreigons began searching near the battle area for Zoroark.

"This better not be a joke, you brat," Solana turned to Brighton, only to see an expression just as confused as her own.

Minutes passed as the quiet tension grew. The two Hydreigons still didn't find Zoroark. Brighton grew concerned at first but then he grew angry.

_I can't believe Zoroark just left me like this, _Brighton thought, angered at Zoroark's absence. He was about to reach for Golurk's Pokéball when he looked back at the two Hydreigon's and noticed something blatantly obvious.

_Only one Hydreigon is wearing a hypno-collar,_ Brighton smirked to himself. _That clever fox._

"Use Focus Blast!" Brighton called out. Solana and Hydreigon began looking around furiously for Zoroark. The two failed to notice the other Hydreigon charging up an attack and launch it when the other Hydreigon wasn't looking, striking the real Hydreigon in the back. The real Hydreigon fell to the ground with a thud. Solana turned to the other Hydreigon and saw it transform back into Zoroark.

"One more time!" Brighton smiled. Zoroark launched another Focus Blast at Hydreigon. An audible roar of pain came from Hydreigon.

"Get up and use Dragon Pulse!" Solana yelled. Hydreigon managed to get back in the air and launched a swirling column of energy at Zoroark. It hit Zoroark dead on, sending spiraling into a tree. Zoroark got up groaning.

"You okay?" Brighton asked. He only got a nod.

"Good, 'cause it's high time we finished this. Zoroark use Dig!" Zoroark launched himself into the ground, leaving a hole in his presence. After a moment, Brighton called out once again.

"Now use Flamethrower!" Hydreigon was suddenly enveloped in a swirling torrent of fire bursting up from the ground. Encasing Hydreigon and silencing his roaring. Zoroark then jumped from the hole and grabbed Hydreigon, bringing him back down to the ground. When Hydreigon wasn't responding to any of Solana's commands, they knew the battle was over.

"Men, retreat!" Solana called out, the other grunts leaving along with her.

"Hey!" Brighton tried to run after them but was stopped by Zoroark.

"There'll be time for that," Zoroark said. "For now, we have to focus on Hydreigon".

Brighton finally agreed and went to check on Hydreigon. However, before, either of them could even begin to figure out how to get the collar of, Zoroark was suddenly swooped up into the air by what appeared to be an Archeops.

"What the..?" Brighton turned around and saw Solana in the shadows. Brighton figured it was her Archeops, because she was the only other person there. However, he didn't have time to go after her

"Zoroark, quick use Night Daze!" Zoroark brought his arms to the side of the Archeops and created another dark explosion. With a squawk, the Archeops began falling from the sky with Zoroark in tow. While Archeops suddenly vanished with Solana, Zoroark changed into Archeops and landed safely, instantly changing back into its original form.

"Good thing Archeops is the ultimate glass cannon," Brighton said coming back to Hydreigon. "So how do we get this thing off of him? I don't feel like getting electrocuted again"

That was when he heard someone emerge from behind a tree. The Pokémon that had been attacked when they got there strolled up to them. It seemed to be a pink doe in essence with flat blade like extensions on top of its head. There were several leaf like edges near its hooves and a head guard that ended right near its muzzle.

"Lady Virizion," Zoroark said bowing to the green creature.

"Ah, Zoroark, so glad to see you're back with us. And I see you kept your manners," she joked as she slammed her horns on the collar. Breaking it and waking up Hydreigon.

"You two must be careful; chances are these goons will seek out Terakion and Cobalion and try something on them. Ancient's speed," Virizion said as she turned to look behind Brighton and Zoroark, then running away. Zoroark turned to Brighton.

"I bet you have a lot questions about…Brighton?" Zoroark said as he caught Brighton in his arms. He had fallen unconscious and was now fast asleep.

**Well, it's about time this whole Neo Team Plasma picture started getting clearer**

**Again, sorry for the delay in getting this chapter in. I'll try to get more in as fast as I can but with no less than five mega classes I'm taking next semester in college, I'm not making any promises**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	11. Vague Sense of Normalcy

**A/N: credit goes out to Serenity in Virginia for… getting this going i guess would be the right term here  
**

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry for taking too long to get this up. I've been caught up in some other stuff and haven't been able to get anything going**

**Enjoy  
**

"Will you stop trying to calm me down, Jack?" Brighton said. "Seriously, does this face look nervous to you?"

"I'm just trying to make sure here," Jack said.

"Well, just go stand over there while me and Zoroark handle this," Brighton said.

"Zoroark and I," Jack quickly countered. Brighton looked at him, a look of bland annoyance spreading across his face. Jack grinned in response but backed away Brighton and Zoroark tried to get some last minute strategizing in.

The group was standing in the Gym arena waiting for Lenora and Hawes to clear up the last few straggling questions in the museum above. It had certainly been a stressful few hours for Brighton. Not only had he been continuously been bombarded with questions about the tumultuous events in Pinwheel Forest, but he was still without an effective strategy as to how he was going to deal with Lenora's team. They were backed into a corner and it looked like they were going to have to fight just to survive this.

Eventually, the door to the Gym opened and both Lenora and Hawes stepped through. Immediately, Brighton's stomach turned over a little bit. Despite what he had said to Jack, in truth he was slightly worried that this would not end well.

"I may have said this before, but I'm still rather surprised to see you here, Brighton," Lenora said. "I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that we feared the worst when this new Team Plasma started taking over."

"Yeah, yeah, can we just get on with the battle?" Brighton said. "It's bad enough having people gawk at me everywhere I go without it turning into some sort of big deal."

"Hmm... still direct as ever I see," Lenora said. "Just be careful Brighton, an attitude like that could get you in a tight spot. Very well, it certainly will be a disservice to the both of us not to get this battle underway. Hawes, would you be a dear and call this match?"

"Of course dear," Hawes said. "Ahem... the Nacrene Gym battle between Brighton the challenger and Lenora the Gym leader is about to begin. There will be three Pokémon on each side, and the match will end when all three Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. In addition, both trainers are allowed to substitute Pokémon. Now, let the battle begin!"

"Alright then, Cincinno, come on out," Lenora threw a Pokéball onto the field, upon it making contact it opened to reveal the small gray, chinchilla like Pokémon that had helped out Jack yesterday. It scurried around in a circle for a few moments before stopping and facing Brighton, it looked ready to fight.

"Heh, nothing I can't handle," Brighton grabbed Hydreigon's Pokéball and looked at it for a moment 'Let's see how you've been holding up buddy,' Brighton threw the ball "Hydreigon, let's go!" with those words the dark dragon appeared.

"Cincinno, start this off with Hyper Voice!" Lenora called to Cincinno. In response, Cincinno brought its ears to its head and wailed loudly. Hydreigon was sent backwards as Lenora continued the attack "Slam!" Cincinno struck Hydreigon hard in the chest. Sending it to the floor, Cincinno turned around and prepared for another attack.

Brighton was left dumbstruck by what was going on. How could Hydreigon, a three headed dragon, be losing to some small little...?

SNAP

Hydreigon had used one of its heads to grab Cincinno's body, making it cry out in pain. It got back in the air, snickering all the while.

'He was just teasing it,' Brighton grinned at the realization "Use Ice Fang!" he called out. Cincinno, due to its small size, was instantly frozen, stifling its yelp. Hydreigon then threw the frozen Pokémon at the wall. But before it struck the wall, Hydreigon launched a Dark Pulse at it, not only shattering the ice but sending Cincinno into the wall even faster. Cincinno slid down and was out.

"Cincinno is unable to battle!" Hawes announced. "Hydreigon wins".

"Hmph, as tenacious as ever I see Brighton," Lenora returned Cincinno to its ball. "But don't feel high and mighty for long, I've created a new strategy just for your return".

She plucked another ball from her waist "Stoutland, use Retaliate!" She yelled as the dog came charging out of the ball, straight at Hydreigon. There was no time to react as Stoutland slammed Hydreigon into a wall, even leaving a decent sized crater in the wall. Lenora wasn't done though.

"Ice Fang!" she continued. Stoutland dug his light blue teeth into Hydreigon; there was a loud roar than nothing else. Stoutland jumped out of the hole and returned to Lenora's side. However, everyone there was a little surprised that Hydreigon managed to pull itself out of the crater, clearly hurting from that series of attacks but still able to go on.

"Well, it seems your Hydreigon is tougher than I suspected," Lenora said. "It certainly seems I didn't think this one out too well. So I'd better switch things up. Stoutland, use Roar!"

A loud, echoing roar escaped from Stoutland's mouth, forcing Hydreigon back to its ball and sending out Golurk in its place. Brighton just absentmindedly stood there, a little shaken by how effective that truly was. As he was trying to revise his strategy, Lenora returned Stoutland and had sent out Watchog in its place.

"Why are you-?"

"All part of the plan Brighton," she said smiling. "Watchog, Mean Look!"

Brighton watched the Pokémon's eyes turn purple as an azure light covered Golurk. Brighton cursed his luck as the ghost was no longer able to escape.

"Now, use Iron Tail!" Lenora commanded.

Watchog's tail shined with a bright light as it was covered it steel. Watchog then jumped up into the air and brought its tail down in Golurk's direction.

"Golurk, use Protect!" Brighton commanded.

A light blue barrier formed in front of Golurk's open hands, keeping the attack from making contact and knocking Watchog away at the same time. Lenora looked slightly surprised that the attack failed to hit its mark.

"Now use Stone Edge!" Brighton commanded.

Several pointed stones appeared out of nowhere in front of Golurk. With a point, the stones flew at Watchog, each one making contact at random points until Watchog was knocked over. It still managed to get up, but it was clearly shaken from the attack

"Now, wrap it up with Dynamic Punch!" Brighton commanded.

A bright light enveloped one of Golurk's fists. It then made a beeline toward Watchog, intending to take it out with a single punch.

"Watchog, Grass Knot!" Lenora commanded.

Two thin strips of grass came out of the Gym floor, tying themselves in a knot in front of Golurk's path. Golurk didn't have time to react as it tripped over the knot, effectively ending the attack. As it was struggling to recover, Watchog went on the attack with Iron Tail. Brighton screamed at Golurk to dodge the attack but to no avail due to its large size and was struck down by the attack.

"Golurk is unable to battle!" Hawes announced. "Watchog wins".

"I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into when we started this match." Lenora said as Brighton recalled Golurk in anger. "I don't mess around when it comes to battles, you know. If you seriously want to beat me, you have to try harder than that".

Brighton didn't say anything in response but sent Hydreigon back out again. However, it seemed to have difficulty staying in the air with all the damage it took.

"Hydreigon again?" Lenora asked. "Are you even trying at this point? Well, I'll have to beat it eventually, I suppose. Watchog, use-".

"Hydreigon, use Double Team!" Brighton commanded.

Before Lenora could finish the attack, Hydreigon split into several copies. They all hovered in place, each staring down at the stunned Pokémon.

"Do you really think that will stop us?" Lenora asked. "Watchog, use Thunderbolt!"

Watchog charged up with electricity and sent several shots at the Hydreigon. Surprisingly, the Hydreigon disappeared when they were hit, making Lenora stand there with a slightly stunned look on her face.

"Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse!" Brighton commanded.

Lenora barely had time to look up as the real Hydreigon shot a column of energy at Watchog, slamming it into the ground and taking it out of the fight.

"Watchog is unable to battle!" Hawes announced. "Hydreigon wins".

Well, well, I certainly didn't see this coming." Lenora said as she recalled Watchog. "You've sure proven you've kept some of your old skills. However, this battle is still far from over. Stoutland, you're up".

Stoutland came back out and growled at Hydreigon. The dragon didn't seem to be intimidated and growled right back. The two Pokémon stared at each other, each waiting for their Trainer to call out their respective moves.

"Hydreigon, use Dark Pulse!" Brighton commanded.

"Stoutland, use Shadow Ball!" Lenora countered.

A swirling column of dark energy shot out of one of Hydreigon's maws as Stoutland shot out a purple and black blob. Both attacks met at the intersection and created an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Stoutland had survived the attack, albeit a little shaken up, while Hydreigon wasn't so lucky.

"Hydreigon is unable to battle!" Hawes announced. "Stoutland wins".

"You're down to your last Pokémon Brighton, let's hope it's good enough," Lenora smiled.

Brighton grimaced at her words. This battle was turning out to be not what he intended. He was already down to his last Pokémon, and Stoutland was hardly shaken up. He felt like he needed nothing short of a miracle to get out of this.

Brighton silently motioned for Zoroark to go on the field. When he got to the center, he contacted Brighton.

"What's the matter Brighton? You're not worried are ya?" Zoroark teased. No answer made Zoroark get serious "Brighton, you've done this once before, just focus, alright?" there was a pause before he heard an okay.

"Zoroark, use Focus Blast and make it count!" Brighton commanded.

Zoroark charged the attack when Stoutland launched a Shadow Ball, he didn't even hear Lenora call the attack. In response, Zoroark launched the attack, creating another explosion of smoke. This one lasted a lot longer than the previous one, making it impossible to see what was going on.

"Stoutland, use Retaliate!" Lenora commanded.

Stoutland shot through the smoke and slammed into Zoroark. While not packing the same kind of power when used against Hydreigon, it still managed to send the fox flying several feet across the arena floor. Stoutland followed it up with another Shadow Ball, this one hitting its mark and damaging Zoroark even more. Surprisingly, Zoroark managed to get up despite all the damage it just took.

"Well, I must say I'm surprised you managed to last this long Brighton," Lenora said. "But don't think you can beat me on spirit alone. I've seen every strategy there is from all the challenges I get. There's no way you'll be able to beat me at this point".

_Ugh… she's right, _Brighton thought. _Lenora always makes it a point to learn what her opponent's strategy is. How am I supposed to defeat her now when she has all- wait a minute! Seeing! That's how I'll be able to defeat her._

"Zoroark, use Dig!" Brighton commanded.

With all the strength he could muster, Zoroark managed to burrow into the ground. While Stoutland was slightly surprised by what was going on, Lenora didn't seem that all phased by this.

"So, you've decided to hide underground, I see," she said. "This certainly seems like a desperation tactic to me".

"Not at all, Lenora," Brighton said. "Zoroark, use Night Daze!"

Lenora could only watch as the azure blast from Zoroark's attack blasted up from underground, knocking Stoutland into the air. Before it hit the ground, Zoroark dove up from the Dig and struck it with a swift kick, sending it flying into the wall and unable to go on with the battle.

"Stoutland is unable to battle!" Hawes announced. "Zoroark wins, which means the victory goes to Brighton the challenger!"

Zoroark ran up to Brighton and wrapped him in one of his now systematic hugs that Brighton hesitantly replied to. They let go when Jack ran up to them.

"Man, that was a close one," he laughed. "You really had me worried there".

"Yeah… so did I," Brighton said.

They both laughed about it for a moment before Hawes and Lenora approached them, badge in tow.

"I've got to hand it to you, Brighton," Lenora said. "I wasn't expecting you to use that little trick of yours at the end. You've proven that you can look past what's been happening to you and still be able to win. So, in honor of your victory, I present you the Basic badge".

"Thanks." Brighton said as he took the badge.

"Wow, two badges," Jack said. "That certainly means you're moving up in the world".

With that, Brighton's feeling of mild euphoria was replaced by his now standard look of annoyed indifference. He silently placed the Badge in his Case and walked out of the Gym without saying another word. Jack just stood there as the others shot dirty looks at him before he noticed.

"What did I say?" he asked.

**Well, another Gym battle over and another badge won**

**Again, sorry for taking too long to update. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but I'm not making any promises**

**Oh, and I have a poll up to see which story i should finish first. Check it out when you get the chance**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	12. Maxed Under

**What up peoplezez**

**As I didn't want to have gym battles overlapping each other, I had spent some time trying to figure out how to do this chapter. Since I obviously couldn't think of anything that served to help the plotline, I just decided to add a new guy in for momentum sake**

**Enjoy**

"How many times do you want me to say it, Brighton?" Jack whined. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I insulted you man. Damn".

"I don't want to talk about it," Brighton said.

The group was currently making its way through Pinwheel Forest on their way toward Castelia City for Brighton's next Gym battle. It certainly ended up being one of the more awkward trips. Brighton in particular was still a little sore about that world quip Jack made back at the Nacrene Gym, something both Jack and Zoroark was having a hard time convincing him to drop. With Castelia city not far away, one would only have to hope that Brighton would somewhat forgive Jack for what he said.

"I was caught up in the moment," Jack said. "Do you really think I'd intentionally say something like that?"

"Jack, while your ignorance of what I'm going through right now is understandable, I'm not talking about this," Brighton said. "I have enough on my mind right now to indulge in your apologies. Right now the only thing I want to do is figure out what is going on-".

"Hey, get out of the way!"

Before anyone knew what was going on, a blonde haired kid with a dark green shirt, jeans and dirty tennis shoes plowed right into Brighton. He toppled over face first into the dirt and was pinned down by the person who hit him. It didn't take the guy long to bounce back up and glare angrily at Brighton.

"Hey, who do you think you are getting in my way like that?" the guy snapped. "I'm fining you and you have ten seconds to pay it! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five!"

"Max, do you ever slow down?" a somewhat annoyed Jack asked.

The kid that had run into him did a double take when Jack said his name. Turning around, he saw Jack and Zoroark were both staring at him in anger for what he just did to their friend.

"Oh hey it's Jack," he said. "And… Whoa! I can't believe you have a Zoroark! You've got to tell me where you caught it!"

"Ugh… nice try, bub," Brighton moaned.

"Wait, Zoroark is with you?" the kid gawked. "I find it hard to believe that a noob like you would be able to catch one at you're level of experience".

"Yeah, well, whatever," Brighton said. "You can mind your own business. You'll live longer".

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" the kid snapped.

"Just let it go Max," Jack said. "Brighton here has been stressed out enough over the last few weeks".

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be the Brighton, would you?" Max asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Brighton groaned as he got himself up to a standing position. "It's not like you're the first person who has gushed about me being here over the past few weeks".

"Sheesh, calm down man," Max said. "I was just asking a question. No need to freak out all of a sudden".

"So Max, what brings you to this part of Unova?" Jack asked.

"Well, it just so happens that I'm on my way to challenge the Nacrene city gym Leader," Max said. "My Pokémon are all super powerful so there's no way we can lose".

"So… you still only have one gym badge?" Jack asked.

"So what if I only have one badge?" Max snapped. "That does not mean that you're better than me".

Jack scoffed at Max's assumption as he pulled out his Badge case and held it in front of Max. He studied it in mock indifference before jumping back in shock.

"No way!" he said. "How can you have seven already man?"

"Because, unlike you, I don't try to challenge every Trainer I know is stronger than me," Jack said. "Why do you think you lost every battle when we first started out?"

Ooh, you'll pay for that," Max said. "I'm challenging you to a battle right here right now".

"You're really going to challenge me?" Zack asked.

"What's the matter, too scared?" Max laughed. "Has helping you're new friend thrown off your confidence?"

"Oh, what I have to put up with… all right, all right," Jack said. "I suppose I'll never hear the end of this if I refuse. Brighton, would ya mind refereeing for us?"

"What?" Brighton gawked. "How'd I get dragged into this?"

However, Max, who had made it abundantly clear that he was not a patient man, had already dragged Brighton over to where they were having the battle. Zoroark, snickering about how stupid Brighton looked right now, walked over to a nearby rock to watch the match.

"So, how many Pokémon is it going to be this time?" Jack asked.

"Three," Max said.

"All right then," Jack said. "Bright, start the match".

"The battle between Jack and Max is about to begin," Brighton blandly announced. "There will be three Pokémon on each side… oh forget it. Let's just get this show on the road".

"Go get 'em, Maractus!" Max yelled.

What looked like a cactus with eyes appeared out of the Pokéball. However it didn't seem all that interested in battling at the moment and started dancing around for no particular reason.

"Maractus, can't you stay focused," Max said. "We're right in the middle of a battle here".

"What's the matter?" Jack laughed. "Can't control your Pokémon?"

"Well to tell you the truth, I just caught this guy about a week ago," Max said. "I was hoping this battle would get it to stop dancing around so much".

"Big surprise," Jack muttered. "Well, let's get going here. Gigalith, come on out!"

A giant four legged boulder appeared and stared down at Maractus. The cactus took a startled leap back at what he was facing.

"Maractus, this is no time to get scared," Max said. "Suck it up and use Hidden Power".

After shaking off whatever fear it had, Maractus formed a light green ball of energy and shot it straight at Gigalith. However, the attack didn't seem to have any sort of effect on the Rock-type. The same thing could be said with the follow up Giga Drain as it just seemed to bounce right off it.

"Grr… well if going long range isn't going to work, then were just going to have to get up close and personal," Max said. "Maractus, use Needle Arm!"

One of Maractus' arms began glowing in a bright light. It then jumped in the air and threw a punch right at Gigalith. However what neither Maractus nor Max noticed was the smirk that had just formed on Jack's mouth.

"Gigalith, Iron Defense," Jack commanded.

A steel like light formed over Gigalith's body. When Maractus made contact, it simply bounced several feet into the air, leaving not so much as a scratch on Gigalith.

"Now wrap it up with Flash Cannon," Jack commanded.

Absorbing the excess energy from the previous attack, Gigalith launched a beam of light right at Maractus. Maractus had no time to react as the attack hit it dead on. When it finally crashed into the ground, there was no way it was going to continue.

"Maractus is unable to battle," Brighton blandly announced. "Gigalith wins".

"Hey that was completely unfair!" Max whined. "I'm fining you for that!"

"Well you shouldn't have left yourself wide open like that," Jack said.

"Well, we'll see who gets the last laugh once this is over," Max said. "Darmanitan, go get 'em!"

Whatever Max was expecting, it certainly wasn't what he got. A dull blue rock statue with blank eyes appeared out of its Pokéball. Max literally did a double take when he saw this.

"Darmanitan, this is no time to be napping on the job!" Max yelled. "We have a battle to win here!"

"…manitain," the statue muttered.

"Wow… this is turning out to be easier than I thought," Jack laughed. "Gigalith, use Power gem and get this over with".

A compressed ball of light forms in front of Gigalith and is shot straight at Darmanitan, nailing it before it could even react. When the dust cleared, Darmanitan had turned into its original form but was unable to go on.

"Darmanitan is unable to battle," Brighton blandly announced. "Gigalith wins".

"Oh come on!" Max whined. "I wasn't even ready!"

"Just like you were never ready when you lost all the time when you first started," Jack said. "Why do you think your Pokémon don't trust you all the time?"

"Shut up, Jack," Max said. "I have a new Pokémon on the team that will blow you out of the water".

Max never got the satisfaction. As he pulled out the Pokéball containing the Pokémon he was going to send out, another Pokéball burst open. When the light cleared, a buzzard with several bone-like appendages attached to it was taking flight.

"Mandibuzz!" Max snapped. "I didn't tell you to come out of your Pokéball!"

"Mandi," the Pokémon muttered.

"So I guess this is your final Pokémon, huh?" Jack asked. "Not exactly what I'd call subtle. Oh well, better if I end this now before we waste any more time".

"We'll see about that," Max said. "Mandibuzz, use Defog!"

However, it was apparent that Mandibuzz had no intention of listening to him. Instead of blowing the gust of wind like it was commanded, the Pokémon charged up an orange beam of light before shooting it at Gigalith.

"No, not Hyper Beam!" Max yelled.

Yet, as it had become blatantly apparent since the start of the battle, Max had no control of his team. The attack hit Gigalith dead on and, surprisingly, looked like it did a bit of damage to it. However, Mandibuzz had used up its energy for the attack, leaving it vulnerable for a Flash Cannon knockout.

"Mandibuzz is unable to battle," Brighton blandly announced. "Gigalith wins, which means the match goes to Jack".

Max just stood speechless at what just happened. He silently recalled his fallen Pokémon with a dazed look on his face as Brighton walked over to his friend. Somehow, he seemed to get over the loss in a few seconds.

"Just you wait, Jack," he said. "I'll get back at you for this".

With that, Max stormed off in no particular direction. Brighton, Jack and Zoroark just stared after him, unsure if they should tell him he was going in the wrong direction. After a while they just shrugged the notion off and continued down their path.

"Well that went as entirely expected as I thought," Jack said.

"I'll say," Brighton said. "Has that guy always been like this?"

"Unfortunately yes," Jack said. "He keeps trying to challenge every strong trainer he sees, but ends up getting beaten every time he does. His Pokémon are pretty upset with him over the lack of experience they've been getting because of this but he doesn't even notice it".

"Ouch," Brighton said. "How that guy has managed to last this long, I will never know".

"That what I said," Jack laughed.

**Wow… that Max guy sure is stupid**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	13. a Loony Arrival

**What up peoplezez**

**Y'know, I'm actually surprised by how popular this story is already. Seriously, I've got so many people watching this story, and I'm not even half way done with it.  
**

**New chapter, Same craziness  
**

**Enjoy  
**

"Ugh, it's about time we got through that stupid forest," Brighton moaned. "This is the last time I trust you with figuring out how to get out of anywhere, Jack".

"Hey, it's not my fault that heard of Sawsbuck came in out of nowhere and chased after us," Jack said. "Plus you were the one who said you didn't want to stop and ask for directions".

Zoroark, who was walking behind them as they crossed Sky Arrow Bridge, was at a loss as to how he was going to calm down this argument. After Jack had completely wiped the floor with Max, they had a bit of an incident where a herd of Sawsbuck came out of nowhere and chased them through the forest despite Zoroark's attempts to fend them off. After they managed to get out of the herd's way, the first thing they noticed was that they were lost, something that didn't bode well to Brighton's already bad mood. Since then, he had been freaking out about everything Jack tried to do to get them out of the forest, which ended up taking a day and a half just to do because Jack's ideas turned out to be as helpful as a black widow spider.

"Well excuse me for having to clean up the mess you caused," Brighton snapped. "If you hadn't tried all those stupid attempts to get us out of there, we probably would have gotten out a lot faster".

"Oh sure, blame me for what happened," Jack retorted. "You know, I'm getting real sick of your negative attitude Brighton. Every day over the past few weeks you've complained about something and quite honestly I've had enough of it. You may be the brother of my best friend, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with-?"

Whatever complaint Jack was about to say, he never got the momentum to say it. At that moment, several multicolored lights flashed over the skyline of Castelia city. Immediately taking this as a warning sign, the group bolted the rest of the way down Sky Arrow Bridge and into the city. Upon reaching the spot where the lights were coming from, they saw a large swarm of what appeared to be flying honeycomb walls using Psybeam, but they knew better.

"Combee?" Brighton gawked. "What are Combee doing in Unova?

"They were brought over in an attempt to get Pokémon from other regions known to Unova," Jack said. "I don't get why they would be out in the city though? I was under the impression that Burgh was keeping an eye on them over at the sanctuary".

"Really?" Brighton blandly asked. "You'd think you'd realize that, given the track record of every incident that has happened since I got here, Team Plasma would be behind this sort of thing".

Jack didn't have the guts to call Brighton for that one. That gave Brighton enough time to properly scope out the whole situation. At first glance there seemed to be nothing particularly wrong with the Combee. On closer inspection, however, he saw that each Combee had the same pair of glowing red eyes. This meant there was only one thing making the Combee act the way they were.

Having made his realization, Brighton ran off further into the city. Jack and Zoroark, stunned at what he was doing, followed after a moment's hesitation.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Brighton snapped. "I'm going to stop Vespiquen".

Finally catching on as to what he was doing, Zoroark doubled his pace and caught up with his friend. Jack, meanwhile, was held up when a sudden swarm of angry Combee forced him to have to defend himself. Brighton and Zoroark didn't notice as they sped toward wherever it was they were going.

"What makes you so sure stopping Vespiquen will calm down the Combee?" Zoroark asked.

"The entire group of Pokémon is supposed to have some sort of hive mentality," Brighton said. "If the queen leaves the hive disbands. The queen dies, the hive dies".

Zoroark didn't really understand how Brighton knew the euphemism. True, he knew that Vespiquen had a knack for controlling Combee, yet he couldn't understand where his friend got that morbid reference. Luckily Brighton noticed his friend's expression quickly.

"I watch nature shows from time to time," Brighton said.

Zoroark gave Brighton one last look before deciding not to dive into the matter further. At several random points, large groups of Combee attempted to attack them. Luckily, Zoroark was able to blast them away with Flamethrower, so they weren't that much of a problem. As they made their way to wherever it was they were going, Brighton couldn't help but wonder why a Vespiquen would have a whole swarm of Combee just rampage around Castelia City out of the blue like this.

He was so caught up with what was going on, he almost ran past a large group of Combee hovering over a sanctuary specifically for bug types. Luckily he managed to do a bit of a double take and made his way back. When they made their way inside, however, they saw no Team Plasma members anywhere. Instead, they saw a pair of mushroom haired thugs with a Trubbish ganging up on a Vespiquen that had been wrapped up in electrified netting.

"I… did not see this coming," Brighton said.

The mushroom haired thugs, one bigger and one smaller, quickly turned around. While sharing slightly stunned looks on their faces, they immediately bounced back.

"Well, look what we have here, Mugsy," the shorter one said. "Looks like we found a guy who's managed to catch a Zoroark".

"Oh, it looks so cool Rocky," the guy apparently called Mugsy said. "Let's catch it boss".

"Shut up Mugsy," Rocky said. "We're supposed to be getting the Vespiquen".

"Ah, but it's a Zoroark, boss," Mugsy whined.

"Hmm… our contract stated that we catch Vespiquen only, but I don't think the boss mind if we bag a Zoroark as well," Rocky said. "Besides, our boss has had an eye one this one for a while now. All right, Mugsy, let's catch that Zoroark and get going".

Giggling stupidly, Mugsy pulled out a rocket launched and pulled the trigger. What looked like the same net that had caught Vespiquen shot out and flew straight at Zoroark. However, they forgot that both Zoroark and Brighton had heard everything the two had said, and with a single swipe, the net had been cut before it even made contact with anything.

"Is that really the best you idiots can do?" Brighton asked. "If that's all you've got then I don't see how you've managed to get this far".

"What do we do, Rocky?" Mugsy asked.

"The only thing we can do Mugsy: take it by force," Rocky said. "Trubbish, use Sludge".

Trubbish shot a glob of gonk at Zoroark, but a Brighton's command, Zoroark used Flamethrower. The flames broke up the sludge and hit Trubbish dead on. It then caused an explosion, causing Trubbish and the two thugs to get blasted through the roof and out of sight.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day," Zoroark said.

"Unless you're me that is," Brighton chided. "Let's just get Vespiquen loose before anything else happens".

Zoroark quickly cut up the net around Vespiquen. Once that happened, they saw the Combee calming down through the hole the thugs had been blasted through. They flew through and swarmed around Vespiquen as the matriarch started calling out to both of them.

"What's it saying?" Brighton asked.

"Thank you mostly," Zoroark said. "The rest of it is just to keep our eyes open".

"Well it's not like we have a choice," Brighton said. "With this whole Neo Plasma nonsense going on, we'd have to have eyes on the back of our head. Well, we'd better get going before anyone else jumps us".

"Music to my ears," Zoroark said.

**Wow... even I didn't see that one coming**

**I hope you like the Loony Tunes reference I threw in. I wanted to get something to go with for the first sequel to this story  
**

**R&R, plz  
**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	14. Getting Buggy With It

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry I took so long to get this update. I was planning on getting this done before I left for Thanksgiving break, but it was my birthday the day before turkey day so my mind was else ware**

**New chapter, Same craziness**

**Enjoy **

It had taken three day, but the repairs to Castelia City had finally been made. However, that still didn't mean everything had settled down right away. There was still the matter of getting everyone back on their feet after the incident. This proved to be a rather tedious affair as the city was still a little on edge over the attack. Add in the fact that neo Team Plasma was still out there and this meant that people were wondering if another attack was coming soon.

As for Brighton, he got the worst of the workload. Not only did he have to catch Jack up with what exactly went down, but he was once again harassed by people about what happened to him, in particular Burgh who, according to Zoroark, had been an advocate against Plasma's claim that he willingly stepped down. Now they were standing on opposite sides of the Castelia Gym battlefield, with Jack watching on the sidelines, waiting for the battle to officially start.

"Well, I must say you were the last person I'd expect battling in my Gym," Burgh said. "But I felt in my pure heart that you would-?"

"Yeah, yeah, we know what you're going to say next Burgh," Brighton retorted. "It's not like you haven't gushed about me enough the last few days. Let's just get this battle over with".

"The Castelia Gym battle between Brighton the challenger and Burgh the Gym Leader is about to begin," the referee said. "Each side will use three Pokémon, and the battle will be over when all three Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon. Let the battle begin!"

"All right Accelgor, come on out," Burgh said.

The first thing Brighton noticed was that Burgh's Accelgor didn't look as tough as Jack's. However, he knew that Burgh would've found a way to deal with any Pokémon despite being weaker. This meant that he'd have to play this smart.

"All right Hydreigon, let's get this over with," Brighton said.

The dragon came out of its Pokéball and glared at the much smaller bug. While Hydreigon seemed ready to go, Brighton was still a little worried.

"Ok Hydreigon, this guy's got to have some sort of plan so we'd better play this carefully," Brighton said. "Use Double Team!"

Hydreigon quickly generated five copies of itself that hovered around Accelgor. Surprisingly, Burgh didn't seem all that phased by what Brighton was doing.

"Get rid of them with Swift," he said.

Going into a spin, Accelgor shot a flurry of stars at the illusions, taking them out and leaving the original floating there. Brighton was taken aback by the suddenness of the counter.

"Ok, that didn't work," Brighton said. "We'd better switch to a different tactic. Use Dark Pulse!"

Hydreigon charged up the column of dark energy as shot it. Once again, Burgh didn't seem the least bit worried about it.

"Quick Attack," he said.

By increasing its speed, Accelgor not only dodged the Dark Pulse blast but managed to score a clean hit on Hydreigon that knocked it backwards. Brighton could only watch as his Pokémon struggled to right itself out in the air.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, Brighton," Burgh said. "My pure heart has been waiting for you to return since you disappeared, and in that time I'm been coming up with ways to beat any Pokémon you throw at me. If you seriously want to win, you'll have to go out of you way to get past my team".

_Ugh, he's right_ Brighton thought. _If we're going to take him out, we're gonna have to keep pressing the attack._

"Hydreigon, Double Team then Dark Pulse!" Brighton commanded.

The moment the illusions got Accelgor's attention, the real Hydreigon got a clean hit with the column of dark energy that slammed it to the ground. The dragon quickly followed it up with an Ice Fang that, despite not taking it out of the battle, managed to freeze enough of it to weigh it down.

"We've got it now," Brighton said. "Let's wrap this-"

"Recover," Burgh said.

Before Brighton could even react, Accelgor covered itself with a green light. In a matter of moments, it had healed itself and broke free of its ice restraints.

"I must say, that was certainly a unique display of skill there," Burgh said. "I would love to see how much stronger Hydreigon has become. But I'm afraid well have to move the battle along. Accelgor, Final Gambit".

Accelgor began glowing in a bright red light and began charging at Hydreigon. The dragon didn't have time to react as the bug slammed into it, effectively taking itself out while taking down its target.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle," the referee said. "This match is a draw".

With a huff, Brighton returned Hydreigon to its Pokéball and called out Golurk while Burgh sent out Crustle next. Both Pokémon stared at each other, waiting to see if the other would flinch.

"All right let's get this one over quick," Brighton said. "Use Stone Edge!"

Golurk quickly formed the pointed stones and sent them at Crustle. Again, Burgh didn't seem all that worried.

"Protect," Burgh said.

Crustle ducked under the rock slab on its back and threw up the blue energy shield to deflect the stones. Once all the stones bounced off, Crustle popped out of the rock, smirking to itself.

"Now use Rock Wrecker," Burgh said.

Crustle began channeling energy in front of itself and a boulder began to appear. Once it was at a considerable height, the bug shot it straight at Golurk.

"Protect!" Brighton quickly said.

Golurk quickly put up its hands and formed and energy shield of its own. While it did managed to prevent any damage from the attack, that didn't stop Golurk from being pushed back a bit from the power.

"Well, you've certainly proven you still know what you're doing," Burgh said. "My heart is aglow with the thought of all that you can accomplish".

"Yeah, well prepare to have that heart shattered," Brighton said. "Golurk, Shadow Ball".

Golurk charged up the sphere of ghost energy and shot it at Crustle. Crustle didn't have time to react as the attack slammed into it. Surprisingly, the bug Pokémon seemed to have survived the attack.

"Very nice," Burgh said. "But that's not going to stop me. Crustle, Shell Smash!"

Crustle leaped out of the stone slab and began glowing bright red. The light quickly broke up, leaving several splinters of it floating around while the Pokémon itself didn't look like it got particularly stronger.

"Now use X-Scissor," Burgh said.

The shards of light went into Crustle's claws as it quickly created a cross of purple energy. Then, when the energy was strong enough, it charged right at Golurk.

"Quick, use Dynamic Punch," Brighton said.

Golurk's fist began glowing in a bright light as it threw a punch right at the oncoming opponent. When the attacks met, an explosion of dust enveloped the both of them. Brighton and Burgh could only wait for the dust to clear. When the dust finally did clear, it was apparent that both Pokémon had taken each other out.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle," the referee said. "This match is a draw".

Brighton angrily recalled Golurk back to its Pokéball. This was turning out to be a lot harder than he originally thought it would be. Not only was he now down to his last Pokémon, Burgh had managed to counter every move he made.

"Well, you've certainly given me a better fight than I expected," Burgh said. "But it's now time for me to call out the guardian of the Castelia Gym. Leavanny, let's go!"

The leaf garbed Pokémon immediately came out of its Pokéball and seemed ready to go. Brighton, knowing full well that Leavanny was essentially Burgh's go-to Pokémon, knew he had to play this smart. He also expected that Leavanny would have a counter for every Pokémon he had so there was no way he could win the way he was battling now.

Just as he went for Galvantula's Pokéball, however, Zoroark ran out into the field. This caught Brighton by surprise because he was well aware that Dark Types weren't particularly good against Bug Types.

"Uh, Zoroark, what are you doing?" Brighton asked.

"Just trust me," Zoroark said. "I owe Leavanny some payback".

"If you say so," Brighton muttered.

"So, it seems Zoroark wants to face off against me and Leavanny," Burgh said. "I must say, he looks stronger than when it was a Zorua the last time you came here. But that doesn't mean we'll be going easy on you. Leavanny, use Sunny Day!"

Leavanny channeled a light energy and shot it into the sky. Moments later, the sun's light quickly intensified. Brighton had to shield his eyes just to be able to barely see what was going on anymore.

"Now, use X-Scissor," Burgh said.

Before either of them could react, Leavanny seemed to just appear in front of Zoroark and just slammed him with an energy cross. Zoroark was sent flying across the field but managed to get back up despite being obviously hurt.

"Now Leaf Blade!" Burgh commanded.

Once again, Leavanny somehow managed to get up close and struck Zoroark with a light covered leaf. This time Zoroark barely managed to get back up from the attack.

"I think it's time we wrap this up Leavanny," Burgh said. "Use Solarbeam!"

Thanks to the strengthened sunlight, the attack took no time to charge up. Leavanny then shot the attack straight at Zoroark.

"Quick, use Dig!" Brighton commanded.

With whatever strength he had left, Zoroark barely managed to burrow underground before the attack struck. It then popped out behind Leavanny and scored a clean hit before it could move.

"You're Zoroark certainly won't give up," Burgh said. "My pure heart is aglow with inspiration. But I can't allow you to win. Leavanny, use Solarbeam!"

At that point, luck began to favor Brighton and Zoroark. When Leavanny began charging up the attack, a stray cloud moved in front of the sun, effectively cutting off the attack. Burgh and Leavanny looked up to notice what was going on.

"Zoroark, use Flamethrower now!" Brighton commanded.

By the time Burgh turned his attention back on the battle, Zoroark had already struck Leavanny with bluebell flames. The bug Pokémon barely made its way up but looked like one more hit could finish it off.

"Wrap it up with Night Daze!" Brighton commanded.

Zoroark quickly slammed its arms into the ground and sent out the red shock wave. Leavanny didn't have time to get out of the way and was knocked out by the power of the attack.

"Leavanny is unable to battle," the referee said. "Zoroark wins, which means the match goes to Brighton".

With a sigh, Burgh returned Leavanny to its Pokéball. Then he went to pick up a small tray before heading over to Brighton.

"That was a great battle, Brighton," Burgh said. "That was the best one I've ever had".

"Thanks… I think," Brighton said.

"Here's your proof that you've won at the Castelia Gym: the Insect Badge," Burgh said.

Brighton accepted the badge without a word and placed in the badge case. He then began making his way to the exit, Jack and Zoroark following right behind him.

"That was a close one," Jack said. "It's a miracle you were able to get the badge".

"Don't push it," Brighton said.

Jack just stood there and stared at his friend, unsure if he should be saying anything. Brighton made his way to the exit and rejoined the outside world, Zoroark following right behind him.

"What's wrong with him?" Burgh asked. "It's not like him to just brush off his friends like that".

"At least he's being nice today," Jack said. "Usually he would have snapped at me by now".

With that Jack made his way outside to catch up with his friend. Burgh just stood there, trying to contemplate what was going on.

**3 down, 5 to go**

**In case anyone might be wondering, I'm not sure if I'll have Brighton battle Roxie or Marlon. I might have him battle them as a favor to Jeremy but that largely depends on my mood**

**R&R, plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	15. Brighton of Unova

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry for the gap between chapters. I've kinda been a little too preoccupied to really work on it**

**Enjoy**

If Brighton though his life had taken a turn for the worst by now, he was in for a rude awakening by the time the group made their way through the Desert Resort. They had only been crossing the expanse for an hour and they had already gone through six bottles of water… each. Yet that was still not enough to help them beat the heat, and considering it seemed to be too hot for desert standards, that was a problem. So while Brighton and Zoroark tried their best to beat the heat in a rare oasis, Jack went off to find someone to help them restock, leaving Sawk with them in case something came up.

Brighton tried his best to stay in the shade, but that was proving to be a problem. The trees' shadows kept moving every so often, forcing him to adjust how he was sitting every so often. Zoroark and Sawk didn't seem to be as affected by the heat as he was but all that did was make him feel worse.

"Ugh, what's with this heat?" Brighton whined.

"I know," Zoroark said. "Desert Resort is a hot place, but I didn't think it could get this hot".

Brighton groaned has he shifted himself once again to get under the shade. This whole experience was turning out to be more than he bargained for. Not only was he nowhere near finding any of his other Pokémon, but this whole mess with the Neo Team Plasma was even more of a problem than he wanted. Now that he was practically being turned into a broiled lobster, he wasn't sure if he could stand being there any longer.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Brighton moaned.

"Calm down," Zoroark said. "Jack is bound to return with supplies sooner or later. You just have to remain calm".

"Easy for you to say," Brighton snapped. "You're not the one being charbroiled because of the sun-huh?"

It was at that point that the little group noticed the sudden absence of the bright ball in the sky. Looking up, they saw that storm clouds were suddenly appearing in the sky and forming over the oasis they were currently standing in. Moments later, rain came pouring down. The three cautiously began stepped out to make sure nothing was going to jump out and attack them.

"What do you think caused this?" Zoroark asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Brighton said. "Honestly, if I stayed in that heat any longer, I probably would have died in protest".

Zoroark wasn't convinced. He couldn't shake off the feeling that it was too coincidental that a rainstorm would just suddenly appear out of nowhere, in a desert no less. What was also disturbing was that the clouds seemed to be stopping at one particular spot in the desert. All this seemed to be a precursor to some sort of trouble to Zoroark. Exactly what it was, he couldn't figure out.

Suddenly, a low rumble was heard right behind them. Turning around, they saw a herd of Pokémon that lived in the desert running away from the rain. They ran right past the trio, completely oblivious that the three of them were even standing there. While the three of them were stunned by this sudden stampede of Pokémon, Brighton was even more freaked out by the sudden look of determination on Zoroark's face.

"Oh no," Brighton said. "Don't even think about it".

"There's no time to think Brighton," Zoroark said. "Whatever's happening can't possibly be good. We have to help".

"It's not our fight," Brighton said. "We're in the middle of nowhere waiting for someone to get help. We can't just run off and just leave him thinking that we're bail-?"

Suddenly, Golurk burst out of its Pokéball without any prior warning. With a grunt it began making its way towards wherever the action was without so much as looking at the incredulous look on Brighton's face.

"Oh… not you too," Brighton snapped.

"Well, it looks like we got our answer," Zoroark said. "We're going to stop whatever's going on".

Zoroark made his way after Golurk without another word. Sawk, after giving Brighton one last look, quickly followed the Dark-Type into the rain.

"Ugh… here we go again," Brighton muttered.

Grudgingly, Brighton began to follow the three Pokémon into the part of the desert that was raining. However, the farther they went into the storm, the slushier the sand seemed to get, making it harder for them to move. On top of that, the rain seemed to get heavier the deeper they went in. This made it harder for him to move at a good enough pace to keep up with them, and that wasn't exactly helping his mood.

Eventually, the group managed to make their way to the Desert Resort. Once they got their wits together, they received a bit of a shock: standing in front of the partially buried entrance surrounded by neo Team Plasma grunts and a group of Liepard, which probably accounted for the weather as Liepard were able to use Rain Dance, were Volcanora and, oddly enough, Marina. Her Pansear and obviously recently evolved Servine were trying to help out, but they were obviously having some trouble keeping up with the number of opponents.

"Marina?" Brighton gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I have to answer?!" Marina yelled. "I'm kinda tied up at the moment!"

Seeing as she had a point, Brighton figured it was better to focus on the Plasma grunts rather than argue. It soon proved that he'd have no other choice as several grunts and Liepard broke off from the group and began swarming them.

"I don't suppose you'd happen to know what Sawk's moves are," Zoroark asked.

"Are you kidding?" Brighton gawked. "I can barely keep up with half of what's going on lately".

Luckily, Sawk seemed to know what it was doing all by itself. It immediately jumped in the air and launched a quick Stone Edge, quick incapacitating a good chunk of Liepard. Figuring it was better to get this fight over as quickly as possible, Brighton had Golurk use Stone Edge as well, taking out over half the Liepard that were still standing. Zoroark finished of the fight with a well-placed Focus Blast, wiping out the remaining opponents and forcing the grunts to retreat in a panic. Once he was sure there was no longer an immediate threat, Brighton went over to check on Marina as the weather started to clear up.

"Now that this nonsense is taken care of, could you please tell me what's going on here?" Brighton asked.

"Well in all honesty, I don't know," Marina said. "I was not that far away from here trying to see if there were any good Pokémon to catch here when Volcanora here burst out of that tower. Before I even knew what was going on, those blue robed goons showed up and ambushed us. We tried to fight them off, but they kept sending out more Pokémon before we got any momentum going".

"So you have no clue as to what caused them to come out here?" Brighton asked.

"No clue," Marina said. "Well, it's been great seeing you again, but I've gotta get going. I still haven't found any worthwhile Pokémon to catch and I don't think I'm experienced enough to handle Volcanora yet".

Marina returned her team to their Pokéballs and left waving a quick goodbye to Brighton as she left. After standing there for a few moments, Brighton decided it was best to not think about what just happened too much and recalled Golurk as well. However, the moment he did that, the dizzy feeling he had when he had what he assumed was a memory flash happened.

_Flashback…_

The Liepard hit the sand with a thud, unable to handle Golurk's apparently overwhelming power. With a grunt, the Team Plasma agents quickly recalled their Pokémon and stormed away.

"Don't think we'll forget this, you brat," one of the grunts yelled. "You only won today because you use Pokémon. This isn't over".

"It looks to me like it is!" Brighton yelled back. "Well, that certainly put a dent into the time we need to get to that tournament. We're gonna have to pick up the pace now".

Zorua and Dewott both nodded. Brighton recalled Dewott and doubled his effort to get out of the desert. However, he barely got a few steps in when the ground began to shake under him. Turning around, the duo saw that Golurk seemed to be following him, the Volcanora it was supposed to be protecting nowhere to be found.

"Why are you following us Golurk?" Brighton asked. "What, do you wanna join the team or something?"

'Gol,' the colossal Pokémon grunted.

Looking down, Brighton saw that Zorua seemed eager to be part of the team. After thinking it over a bit, he figured it be a good idea to have at least one durable Pokémon on the team for the tournament.

"All right then, you're in," Brighton said. "Pokéball, go!"

The Pokéball flew in the air and bounced off Golurk's body, the latter immediately disappearing inside in a flash of red light. After waiting to make sure the Pokémon was actually caught, Brighton picked up and put in safely on a loop on his belt.

"Well, it looks like we've got a new friend," Brighton said.

'Zorua,' Zorua said with a smile.

_Present day…_

Brighton staggered a bit as this new vision wore off. Luckily, none of the Pokémon that were out saw what happened. With a shrug, he shook off the wooziness and tried to piece together what he had just seen.

This had been the first vision he had since he left the Striaton Gym, and apparently, from the vision, this had been the second time this event had happened. This left Brighton with an uneasy feeling that whatever happened back then was making a repeat performance right now. Now, he could only hope he could get rid of this nonsense before anything else happened.

**Now that's a major case of de ja vu**

**R&R plz**

**NITRO PSYCHO OUT!**


	16. The Right Tournament in the Wrong Town

**What up peoplezez**

**Sorry for the long wait between chaptahs. I'm kinda in between colleges right, and quite frankly the boredom has sapped away my momentum. I'll try to keep the story going as soon as I can**

**Emjoy**

Despite his insistence that this was to get him back into his old groove, Brighton couldn't help but think this was Jack's way of getting back at him. Not long after the group made their way out of the Desert Resort, they had arrived at a hamlet that was called Nimbasa town. There, Jack had him sign up for some sort of tournament that just happened to be taking place there. Jack kept saying it was to help him get back in the swing of thing because he still didn't have that much battle experience since getting back, but Brighton felt the was reason Jack talked him into this was to get back at him for running off to deal with that mess with Neo Team Plasma. Now that they were waiting in the Pokémon Center waiting for the tournament to start the next day, the only thing Brighton could think of doing is complain.

"OK, explain to me again why I have to do this," Brighton muttered.

"I told you, you need more experience battle than with those Plasma thugs," Jack said. "From here on, the Gym Leaders are a lot tougher than what you faced so far so you need all the training you can get".

"Yeah, somehow I doubt this isn't because I had to fight a bunch of Plasma goons while you're back was turned," Brighton retorted.

"And here we go again," Jack groaned. "I told you, I don't blame you for having to run off and deal with them. I would have done the exact same thing".

"Sure," Brighton scoffed. "And after everything that's happened to me, I should just accept how things are and just respond accordingly".

With a huff, Brighton stormed out of the room and made his way down to the lobby, brushing off ogling Trainers that were staring at him. Zoroark, who had been checked out by Nurse Joy for the tournament and was waiting for him, quickly ran up to him and made his way by his side.

"So, I take it the preparations for the tournament are going well," Zoroark said.

"Hmph," Brighton grunted.

"Ok, what's the problem this time?" Zoroark asked.

"You mean besides the fact that this whole experience has been the worst few months of my entire life?" Brighton retorted. "Honestly, is it too much to ask for one day without people staring at me, asking for photos, or trying to jump me from behind".

"Brighton, you do know that there are some things beyond your control, right?" Zoroark asked. "I know all of this is still a big shock to you, but you don't have to deal with everything all by yourself. Jack is trying the best he can to help you adjust. He wouldn't have had you sign up for this tournament if he didn't think it would help you. And besides, it's not like I have any other plans right now".

Deep down, Brighton knew that Zoroark had a point. Jack had promised Jeremy that he'd help him get readjusted to this world and he had certainly been trying. On the other hand, Jack's so called 'help' had resulted in him almost getting run over by a bunch of Sawsbuck in a forest, getting lost for several days in said forest, nearly getting cooked to death in a Volcanora induced desert heat wave, and town upon town of gawking fans that still gave him the occasional nightmare. This left him feeling that if he intended to get out of this in one piece, he would probably have to do all the thinking for a while.

"All right, I'll go through with this dumb tournament," Brighton muttered. "But next time I'm deciding what we're doing".

_The next day…_

Brighton, for obvious reasons, wasn't too thrilled by how long it was taking just for the tournament to start. He had to spend the first fifteen minutes with the tournament staff to verify the three Pokémon were up to their standards. He had decided to go with Zoroark, Samurott, and Golurk because, as Zoroark kept telling him, they were the exact same Pokémon he had used in a previous tournament the town had held. Then, he had to be shown his designated waiting area for when he wasn't battling, something he felt was completely pointless. Now he, Jack and, oddly enough, Max were waiting along with the other trainers who had signed up for this tournament for the announcers, Jeremy and some media mogul named Freddy the Scoop, to announce that it had officially started.

"Ugh… why is this taking so long?!" Max whined. "I can't prove I'm the superior trainer here by just waiting around!"

"At this point, I don't care if you're superior target practice," Brighton moaned. "I just want to get this nonsense over with so I can get on with my life".

"Hey, I've been practicing you know," Max snapped. "I'll have you know I've beaten both the Nacrene and Castelia Gym no problem".

"And it took you, what, a million tries just to do that?" Brighton retorted.

"Quiet," Jack hissed. "They're about to start".

With nothing else to do, Brighton could only watch as his 'brother' and a guy with an ugly brown blazer made their way up to the announce table raised a little above the battlefield. Brighton assumed that this guy was this Freddy person because he already recognized out of the two of them.

"Ladies and gentleman, I hope you've fastened your seatbelts because we're gonna be in for a bumpy ride," Freddy said. "On behalf of all the Trainers here, I'm Freddy the Scoop, and I'll be calling all the action for you here at the Nimbasa Battle Tournament!"

"Is all that showboating really necessary?" Brighton muttered.

"Appears to be," Max shrugged.

"It is my esteemed pleasure to introduce to you Unova champion Jeremy," Freddy said, "who will be here calling the action with me in this exciting series of battles".

"Thank you Freddy," Jeremy said. "Ladies and gentleman, I'm thrilled to be here in order to judge this tournament. The trainers here all ready to prove they're strength and I hope you will show your support over the next few days as we find out who among them is the toughest".

The crowd gave a raucous cheer at Jeremy's speech. However, Brighton was only half paying attention to what he was saying. Instead, he was doing his best to tune him out so that he could focus more of his time to try and guess who he would have to eliminate so he could get all this behind him.

"Thank you for that wonderful introduction Jeremy," Freddy said. "Now the rules: each round will be a single elimination one-on-one battle. In each battle, trainers are allowed to use one of the three Pokémon they chose to compete with. The last trainer remaining after winning four matches in a row will be declared the winner and will receive our prize: a lovely set of Driftveil Wing".

Around him, Brighton could see the other trainers muttering about how great the prize is. However, he couldn't care less about get a set of some gaudy looking wings. As far as he could tell, there was no way he would have any real use for them and it would be a burden just to drag them around all the time.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's get on with the fun," Freddy said. "If you will look on the main screen, we will determine by random shuffle who each of our trainers will be facing in the first round".

Sure enough, the facial profiles of each trainer appeared on the monitor that was overlooking the stadium. Immediately the profiles flipped over and were apparently being shuffled to make the first round matches. Sure enough, after a couple of moments, the profiles reappeared on the screen, each paired with a different one for the battles, and from the look of it, he would be starting the tournament off against a girl around his age with bubblegum pink hair.

"And there you have it," Freddy said. "Our first round matches have all been determined. Now let's get on with the first match of the day: Brighton vs. Ilyssa".

The other trainers left the battle field for their respective waiting spots, leaving Brighton, Zoroark, and this Ilyssa girl to take their positions for the battle. A lot of the cheering the crowd was doing seemed to be directed toward him, but as usual he found all this praise completely unjustified.

"Well Jeremy, you've probably been waiting for this battle for a while," Freddy said. "What is your take on each of these trainers?"

"Well Freddy this is a match that I feel will be considerably in my brother's favor," Jeremy said. "Ilyssa might be a considerable trainer here in her hometown, but she's going up against Brighton, a trainer who unquestionably has a storied legacy here in Unova. However, from what I've been hearing lately, that legacy appears to have soured recently".

"So are you saying there's a chance he might lose today?" Freddy asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Jeremy said. "He doesn't seem to have lost any of his old battling skills. I think it's just the stress from everything that has happened to him lately. We should expect him to dictate the pace early in this battle and maintain control thruought the tournament".

"Well, if that's the case, then we shouldn't wait any longer," Freddy said. "Let's get this match started.

"The one-on-one match between Ilyssa of Nimbasa Town and Brighton of Nuvema Town is about to begin," the ref said. "Trainers, release your Pokémon".

"All right Tranquill, you're up!" Ilyssa yelled.

The pigeon Pokémon appeared out of its Pokéball in a flash. It seemed rather eager to compete in this battle.

"Golurk, let's get this over with," Brighton muttered.

The gargantuan Pokémon came out of its own Pokéball with a thud, causing Ilyssa to lose her balance a little bit. When she finally managed to regain her composure, the ref finally signaled for the match to begin.

"All right Tranquill, use Air Cutter," Ilyssa commanded.

Golurk, Stone Edge," Brighton commanded.

Flapping its wings at high speed, Tranquill sent several light blue crosses to Golurk at the same time the Ghost summoned several pointed stones and sent them toward the pigeon. Both attacks collided in mid-air and created an explosion.

"Tranquill, Aerial Ace," Ilyssa commanded.

Tranquill shot through the smoke the previous attacks caused. The crowd gasped as it looked like Golurk was vulnerable.

"Grab it," Brighton said.

When Tranquil got close enough, Golurk quickly grabbed a hold of it. Tranquil tried to break free, but the ghost was too strong to escape from.

"Dynamic Punch," Brighton commanded.

With as little movement as possible, Golurk threw Tranquill in the air and followed it up with a punch made of white light before the Pokémon could even react. While the attack didn't knock Tranquill out, it did leave it disoriented enough for Golurk to capitalize with another Stone Edge, effectively taking it out of the match.

"Tranquill is unable to battle!" the ref declared. "Golurk win, which means the match goes to Brighton!"

"And there you have it," Freddy said. "Brighton proved to be too much for Ilyssa and her Tranquill to overcome. Brighton will now move on to round 2".

After recalling Golurk to its Pokéball, Brighton made his way to his waiting area with Zoroark right on his heels. Once he got within the area, Jack and Max made their way over to him.

"Whoa, that was incredible," Max said. "I didn't think you would have Golurk use Tranquill's attack the way you did".

"Oh please," Brighton muttered. "All it took was Ilyssa trying to be overzealous".

The rest of the first round matches proceeded rather quickly. Thanks in no small part to Brighton's performance, the other trainers tried their best to outmaneuver their opponents and move on in the tournament. So far, the only person to even come close was Jack, who quickly subdued an opponent who had made the mistake of using a Patrat after he had sent out Sawk.

"Well ladies and gentleman, the action in this Nimbasa Battle Tournament has been fast and furious," Freddy said. "We now move on to our final battle of the day: Max vs. Shane".

As the crowd cheered, Max hastily ran to his spot on the field, tripping as he got there before getting up and waiving at the crowd. On the other side of the field, a guy with sleek black hair, a black trench coat and shirt, dark blue jean and what looked like hiking boots made his way to the opposite side of the field. From the look on his face, Brighton that Shane guy looked less happy about being here than he was.

"Hey wait a minute, I know that guy," Jack said.

"You do?" Brighton asked.

"Of course," Jack said. "He was featured in a Unova magazine not too long ago. People have been calling him the "Perennial Choke Artist" because in every League tournament he's ever been in, he always winds up losing in the final battle. I wonder what he's doing here though".

"How would I know," Brighton muttered.

"Well Jeremy, this should certainly be a battle to remember," Freddy said.

"No doubt about it Freddy," Jeremy said. "We've got Max, who from the few people I've met who know him find his battle style a bit klutzy, who is looking to prove he's not the loser everyone says he is. On the other side, there's Shane, known for his less than stellar performances in every League he's been in, and his unpredictable battling style. This will be a battle no one will soon forget".

"The battle between Max of Accumula Town and Shane of Commerce City is about to begin," the ref said. "Trainers, release your Pokémon".

"Darmanitan, let's roll," Max yelled.

The Pokémon Brighton remembered as a stone statue from Max's battle with Jack came out. It seemed to no longer be a statue, but was still not as impressive in its physical form.

"Excadrill, let's go," Shane yelled.

What looked like a dirt brown mole with three metal like appendages on the ends of its arms and head came out of its Pokéball. From the way it was standing, it was clearly a lot tougher than Darmanitan.

"Battle, begin," the referee declared.

"All right Darmanitan, let's show this guy how strong you are," Max said, "Use Rock Smash".

One of Darmanitan's long arms began glowing an orangish-red. It then charged at Excadrill and threw a punch at it. Surprisingly, Shane didn't seem the least bit concerned about the attack.

"Sandstorm," Shane commanded.

Dragging its front claws into the ground, Excadrill created a dirt tornado and sent it toward Darmanitan. The tornado stopped Darmanitan's attack cold and kept it from moving.

"Now, Drill Run," Shane commanded.

Bringing its two claws into the claw on its head, Excadrill began spinning like a drill right into the sandstorm. As soon as it hit it, there was an explosion of dirt the covered the whole battlefield. Once the dust cleared, Excadrill was the only one standing from the contest.

"Darmanitan is unable to battle," the referee declared. "Excadrill wins, which means the battle goes to Shane".

"And there you have it," Freddy said. "Shane didn't waste any time and deals with Max into a matter of seconds and moves on to round 2".

"Now that was a one-sided battle," Jeremy said. "Nothing against Max, but Shane clearly came into this tournament to prove a point".

Stunned at how the battle turned out, Max recalled Darmanitan in disbelief and headed back to where the others were standing. Shane recalled his Pokémon and went over to a waiting area on the other side of the battlefield.

"Oh man how did that happen?" Max asked.

"You clearly came into this tournament not expecting your opponent to be able to take advantage of types," Brighton said.

"Hey, that's not fair," Max snapped.

"It's the hard truth dude," Brighton snapped. "Live with it".

"That's it," Max yelled. "When we do eventually get to battle, I'm beating you for sure".

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Brighton scoffed.

"Well ladies and gentleman, our first round battles have certainly been as thrilling as we could expect," Freddy said. "Now that we know the trainers that have made it to round 2, let's see who they will be facing off against tomorrow".

Once again, the profiles appeared on the screen and began to shuffle for the round two matches, coming to rest after a few moments. To their luck, neither Brighton nor Jack were paired up with that Shane guy, but they knew it was only a matter of time before they would have to deal with him.

"And there you have it," Freddy said. "Our second round matches have been determined. Trainers, rest up for tomorrow and make sure the tomorrow's battles are just as fierce as today's were".

**And there you have it. Another successful chapter in the books**

**Again sorry about the wait between chaptahs. I should have the next chaptah up as soon as I can**

**R&R plz**

**NITROPSYCHO OUT!**


End file.
